rice Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished
  2. noun annual or perennial rhizomatous marsh grasses; seed used for food; straw used for paper
  3. noun English lyricist who frequently worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber (born in 1944)
    Timothy Miles Bindon Rice; Sir Tim Rice.
  4. noun United States playwright (1892-1967)
    Elmer Rice; Elmer Reizenstein; Elmer Leopold Rice.
  5. verb sieve so that it becomes the consistency of rice
    • rice the potatoes

WordNet

Rice noun
Etymology
F. riz (cf. Pr. ris, It. riso), L. oryza, Gr. , , probably from the Persian; cf. OPers. brizi, akin to Skr. vrihi; or perh. akin to E. rye. Cf. Rye.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A well-known cereal grass (Oryza sativa) and its seed. This plant is extensively cultivated in warm climates, and the grain forms a large portion of the food of the inhabitants. In America it grows chiefly on low, moist land, which can be overflowed.

Webster 1913