rice
Pluralrices (some meanings)
Pluralrices (some meanings)
- 1Small white or brown grains that are cooked and eaten, often with other food.
We ate rice and beans for dinner.
She cooked a big pot of rice on the stove.
UsageSay some rice (not
incorrect: a rice). - 2A grassy food plant grown for the seeds that people eat.
Farmers grow rice in flooded fields.
Rice needs warm weather and plenty of water to grow.
Note
- 3
- 4One type of rice that is different from other types in grain length, color, smell, or how sticky it is.
Jasmine is a soft rice with a sweet smell.
The little shop sells ten different rices from all over Asia.
Note
Less common meanings
- 5To throw rice at someone, usually at a wedding.
The couple was well riced and sent on their way.
2002, Helen Argers, The Gilded LilyHere, riced means showered with rice, as 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, “Echoes of the Week”, in The Illustrated London NewsHere, ricing means throwing rice at the bride and groom.Note
- 6Showy add-ons put on a car to make it look fast, often without real power.
Like putting racing stripes on a slow bike to make it seem fast.
His car is covered in rice, from a huge rear wing to bright stickers.
That spoiler is pure rice and adds no real speed.
Note
- 7A turning frame that holds a loop of yarn or thread while it is wound onto a spool.
Swift (rice) Skein holder, hank holder.
1977, Marianne Straub, Hand weaving and cloth designHere, rice means a reel or holder for winding thread or yarn.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 DevelopmentHere, rices means reels on which yarn is wound for weaving.Note
- 8To gather the grain of wild rice from plants growing in lakes and marshes.
- 9To change the way a computer's desktop looks so it fits your own style.
- 10A finished look someone has set up for a computer's desktop.
- 11A small twig or stick, or twigs and small branches used together, for example to make a fence.
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 FarmHere, rice means thin sticks or twigs cut from trees.
Showing meanings only.
More uses
- cauliflower ricevegetables chopped into tiny pieces like rice
Practice
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Origins
The word came into English through French and Italian from Greek, which had it from an Eastern Iranian language. It may go all the way back to Sanskrit and perhaps an even older Dravidian or Austroasiatic word.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English rice came through French and Italian from Greek, which borrowed it from an Eastern Iranian language. en.wiktionary.org
- The word may ultimately have passed through Sanskrit. en.wikisource.org
- A still earlier Dravidian or Austroasiatic source has been proposed. en.wiktionary.org
This is an old word meaning "branch" or "twig." It comes from Old English hrīs and older Germanic roots.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Rice is an old word meaning a branch or twig. en.wiktionary.org
- Rice in this sense comes from Old English hrīs. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English hrīs has older Germanic roots. en.wiktionary.org