rice

/ɹaɪs/

rice noun: cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.

Image: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

rice (countable and uncountable, plural rices)

(uncountable) Cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.
- Rice is a tropical plant; yet Carolina and Georgia grow the finest in the world; heavier grained, better filled, and more merchantable, than any imported into Europe from the Indies.1831, Daniel Jay Browne, The Naturalist, volume 1, page 375
- Drought stress causes yield reductions and sometimes total crop failures in rainfed rice areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.1982, International Rice Research Institute, Drought Resistance in Crops with Emphasis on Rice
(countable) A specific variety of this plant.
- The rices of Kashmír are infinite in variety. In one tahsíl I have found fifty-three varieties.1895, Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, The Valley of Kashmír
- First, we have the Italian rices; secondly, the rices of the French colonies of Indo-China and Madagascar, which are beginning to cultivate rices of very fine quality, altogether superior to those that were cultivated only a few years back.1922 April, L. Humbert, “America Has Hard Competition in France”, in Rice Journal and Southern Farmer, volume 25, number 4
(uncountable) The seeds of this plant used as food.
- Mold boiled rice, when hot, in cups which have been previously dipped in cold water; when cold, turn them out on a flat dish, arranging them uniformly; then with a tea-spoon scoop out a little of the rice from the top of each cone, and put in its place any kind of jelly.1881, Mary Foote Henderson, Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving
- In Britain too rice is reputed to increase the sexual faculties.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 207
1. The seeds of wild rice, used as food.
  - We shoot bows and arrows. We hunt, fish, paddle canoes, have war dances, ride horses, run, jump, gather rice, gather berries, throw spears, rock cradles, worship the Great Spirit, grind corn, have council meetings, and perform dozens of other activities that Indians do.1933, Roy J. McMurray, The Journal of Health and Physical Education, volume 4, number October 1933, page 48
(ethnic, humorous, slang, slur, uncountable) The types of automobile modifications characteristic of a rice burner.
(slang) An instance of customization of a user interface.
- This is my first rice!

Verb

rice (third-person singular simple present rices, present participle ricing, simple past and past participle riced)

(transitive) To squeeze through a ricer; to mash or make into rice-sized pieces (especially potatoes).
- Riced Potato. Have a flat dish and the colander hot. With a spoon, rub mashed potato through the colander on to the hot dish.1881, Maria Parloa, Miss Parloa's New Cook Book: A Guide to Marketing and Cooking
- Following ricing, the potato mash proceeds to the drum drier where flaking is done.1961, Potato Chipper, volume 21, page 88
(intransitive) To harvest wild rice (Zizania spp.)
- In northern Minnesota the whites have invented the verb "to rice," and speak of "ricing," i. e., harvesting the crop of wild rice.1894, John Merle Coulter, Botanical Gazette, page 505
- When ricing, the Ojibway dress warmly at first; by midday they may shed some clothes as harvest toil combines with the hot sun of late summer to warm them.1988, Thomas Vennum, Wild rice and the Ojibway people
(rare) To throw rice at a person (usually at a wedding).
- So far as I can make out, the idiotic function of “ricing” English brides and bridegrooms is not twenty years old.1886 July 24, “Echoes of the Week”, in The Illustrated London News, volume 89, page 90
- The couple was well riced and sent on their way.2002, Helen Argers, The Gilded Lily
(transitive) To customize the user interface of a computer system, e.g. a desktop environment. (derived from rice out)

Noun (2)

rice (plural rices)

(Ireland, Scotland, dialectal) A twig or stick.
- To guard the bank from the impression of the water, a fence, OF STAKE AND RICE, may be made along the bottom of it next the sea, which will last till the surface on that side is sufficiently swarded, and the mound properly consolidated.1834, John Johnstone, A systematic treatise on the theory and practice of draining land
- Another form of dead-hedge is the stake-and-rice, and it is formed of the branches of forest trees; and where these are plentiful and thorns scarce, it is an economical dead fence.1851, Henry Stephens, The Book of the Farm, volume 1
(obsolete) A bobbin or spool.
- […] taken unlawfully from the same house five "machines called 'Engine-Weaving Loomes' worth thirty pounds, and two ounces of silke worth five shillings, and two joynt-stooles worth three shillings, and a pair of 'Rices to wind silke on' worth four shillings […]1892, John Cordy Jeaffreson, editor, Middlesex County Records, volume 4
- The hanks are placed upon light, collapsible hexagon reels termed rices, which are easily lifted out of their position for the reception of the hank.1895, Richard Marsden, Cotton Weaving: Its Development, Principles, and Practice

Proper noun capitalized: Rice

Rice (countable and uncountable, plural Rices)

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].
- This past weekend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach set off a firestorm with his full-page ad in the New York Times accusing National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice of turning a blind eye to the Rwandan genocide when she was on President Bill Clinton’s national security team in the 1990s.2015 March 4, Jill Jacobs, “Shmuley Boteach isn’t ‘America’s rabbi’”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2023
- For a micromoon and Friday the 13th full moon to occur together is extraordinarily rare. The last time it happened was in 1832 and it won't happen again for more than 500 years according to Tony Rice, a meteorologist and engineer at NASA.2019 September 13, Matthew Cappucci, “For the first time in 13 years, a full moon rises this Friday the 13th”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 29 Oct 2020
A former town in the Rice Valley, San Bernardino County, California.
An unincorporated community in Cloud County, Kansas.
A city in Benton County, Minnesota.
An unincorporated community in Putnam County, Ohio.
An unincorporated community in Wasco County, Oregon, named after Horace Rice.
A minor city in Navarro County, Texas, named after William Marsh Rice.
An unincorporated community in Prince Edward County, Virginia.
An unincorporated community in Stevens County, Washington, named after William B. Rice.
A number of townships in the United States, listed under Rice Township.

Noun (3) capitalized: RICE

RICE (uncountable)

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of rest, ice, compression, elevation (“a treatment method for soft-tissue injuries”).
- The care manager greeted Beth and Jim as they prepared to leave, […] and offered to give them brochures about RICE and physical therapy […] After the RICE therapy, Dr. Meredith recommended rehab for strengthening the ankle so that Beth could return to her physical fitness […]2017, Ida Critelli Schick, edited by Laurinda Beebe Harman and Frances H. Cornelius, Ethical Health Informatics: Challenges and Opportunities, 3rd edition, Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning...
- The RICE method is a simple self-care technique that aims to reduce swelling, ease pain, and speed up healing.2024 April 24, Amy Gopal, Shelly Shepard, “RICE Method for Injuries”, in WebMD
(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of rest, immobilization, cold, elevation (“a treatment method for soft-tissue injuries”).
(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of reaction, initial, change, equilibrium (“a tabular system for keeping track of changing concentrations in an equilibrium reaction”).
(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of reciprocating internal combustion engine.

rice meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

rice in Hindi

seeds used as food: चावल cāval, धान dhān, भात bhāt, पुलाव pulāv, बिरयानी biryānī, तंडुल taṇḍul
plants: चावल cāval, धान dhān, भात bhāt, तंडुल taṇḍul

rice in Tamil

seeds used as food: அரிசி arici, சோறு cōṟu
plants: நெல் nel

rice in Marathi

seeds used as food: तांदुळ tānduḷ, भात bhāt
plants: भात bhāt

rice in Urdu

seeds used as food: چاوَل cāval, بِرَنْج biranj, پُلاؤ pulāo
plants: چاوَل cāval

More languagesFewer languages

rice in Bengali: ধান dhan, ভাত bhat
rice in Telugu: వడ్లు vaḍlu, బియ్యం biyyaṁ, అన్నము annamu, వరి vari
rice in Malayalam: അരി ari, ചോറ് cōṟŭ, നെല്ല് nellŭ
rice in Kannada: ಅಕ್ಕಿ akki
rice in Punjabi: ਚਾਵਲ cāval, ਚੌਲ caul, چول pnb, ਜੀਰੀ jīrī
rice in Gujarati: ચોખા, ચોખાને
rice in Odia: ଚାଉଳ cāuḷa, ଭାତ bhāta
rice in Sanskrit: व्रीहि vrīhi, तण्डुल taṇḍula
rice in Sinhala: බත්, හාල් hāl, වී wī
rice in Assamese: ধান dhan, চাউল saul, ভাত bhat
rice in Nepali: चामल cāmal
rice in Pashto: وريژې wríže, چلو čaláw
rice in Tagalog: bigas, kanin, palay
rice in Arabic: أَرُزّ ʔaruzz, رُزّ ruzz, رزة ruza, رز ruzz
rice in Malay: beras, nasi, padi
rice in Indonesian: beras, nasi, padi
rice in Persian: بِرِنْج birinj, چَلَوْ čalaw, پِلَوْ pilaw, پَلَوْ palaw
rice in Thai: ข้าว kâao
rice in Vietnamese: gạo, cơm, lúa
rice in Myanmar: ဆန် hcan, ထမင်း hta.mang:, စပါး ca.pa:
Sindhi: چانور cānor
Dhivehi: ހަނޑޫ haⁿḍū, ބަތް bat̊
Kashmiri: تۆمُل tomul, دانہِ dāni

Examples of rice in a sentence

For commercial purposes, the rices are classified according to the kernel length as short-grain, medium-grain, longgrain and long-slender-grain.2000, R.K Singh, U.S. Singh, G.S. Khush, editors, Aromatic Rices:
On the festival day, rice is cooked together with this rice knot above.2010, S. D. Sharma, Rice: Origin, Antiquity and History:
Last night I riced the potatoes and added in the cream and butter while they were hot, so today wll we have to do is add flour and roll them out.2015, Lorna Seilstad, As Love Blooms (The Gregory Sisters Book #3): A Novel:
As it was, the Indian seldom bothered to harvest wild rice on public waters after opening day of the ricing season.2002, David Laursen, A Capital Place: Reminiscences of a Sandy Lake Boyhood:

All 40 example sentences with rice

Forms of rice

Noun
plural	rices
alternative form	rise
Verb
third-person singular present	rices
present participle	ricing
past participle	riced
past	riced
Proper noun
plural	Rices
alternative form	Rise
alternative form	Wrice

Plural of rice: rices

Origin of rice

From Middle English rys, from Old French ris, from Old Italian riso, risi, from Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza), from an Eastern Iranian language related to Middle Persian blnc (*brinǰ), Northern Kurdish riz (beyond Euphrates) and Zazaki riz. Theorized to have come to Iranian languages from Sanskrit व्रीहि (vrīhi). Prior to Sanskrit, it is speculated to be possibly a borrowing from a Dravidian language (compare Proto-Dravidian *wariñci (“rice”)), or from Austroasiatic languages further east. Alternatively Byzantine Greek ὄρυζα (óruza) is said to be from Hebrew אורז (órez), from South Arabian areez ultimately from Old Tamil 𑀅𑀭𑀺𑀘𑀺 (arici). Doublet of arroz.

From Middle English ris, rys, from Old English hrīs (“branch; twig”), from Proto-Germanic *hrīsą (“bush; twig”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreys- (“to turn; bend; wind; move; shake”). Cognate with Scots reise, rice (“twigs; brushwood”), West Frisian riis, rys, Dutch rijs (“little branch; twig; osier; whip”), German Low German Ries, German Reis (“twig; sprig; shoot”), Swedish ris (“twigs; brush; rod”), Icelandic hrís.

* As a Welsh surname, borrowed from Welsh Rhys, an Anglicization. Compare Reese, Freese, Price, and Preece. * As an English surname, from Old English hris (“brushwood, shrubbery”). * Also as an English surname, from a nickname through Middle English and Anglo-Norman from French ris (“smile, laughter”). * Also as an occupational English surname, from the noun rice. * As as German surname, Americanized from Reis (“shoot, twig”), related to the Old English word above. Compare Ries.

Phrases with rice

139 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with rice

31 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about rice

What does rice mean?: Rice means cereal plants, Oryza sativa of the grass family whose seeds are used as food.
What is rice in Hindi?: Rice in Hindi is चावल (cāval), धान (dhān), भात (bhāt). See Rice meaning in Hindi.
How do you use rice in a sentence?: For commercial purposes, the rices are classified according to the kernel length as short-grain, medium-grain, longgrain and long-slender-grain.
What part of speech is rice?: Rice can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce rice?: Rice is pronounced /ɹaɪs/.
What is the plural of rice?: The plural of rice is rices.

Words near rice in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: rice (page history and authors); Rice (page history and authors); RICE (page history and authors); rice (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-rice.ogg, en-uk-rice.ogg.

Cite this entry: “rice.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rice. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.