rice

noun

1. (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.”

   “Drought stress causes yield reductions and sometimes total crop failures in rainfed rice areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.”

   “Rice transformed with genes encoding human CYP1a1, CYP2B6, and CYP2C19 are more tolerant of various herbicides than non-transgenic rice plants, due to increased metabolism by the introduced P450 enzymes [Kawwahigashi et al. 2005a, 2007, 2008; James et al. 2008].”

2. (countable)A specific variety of this plant.

   “The rices of Kashmír are infinite in variety. In one tahsíl I have found fifty-three varieties.”

   “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.”

   “For commercial purposes, the rices are classified according to the kernel length as short-grain, medium-grain, longgrain and long-slender-grain.”

3. (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.”

   “In Britain too rice is reputed to increase the sexual faculties.”

   “In sum, when a modern Japanese family and its members sit around the supper table eating their bowls of Japanese-grown rice, they are not simply indulging a gastronomic preference for short-grained and slightly sticky japonica rice over long-grained indica rice from Thailand.”

   “On the festival day, rice is cooked together with this rice knot above.”

4. (ethnic, humorous, slang, slur, uncountable)The types of automobile modifications characteristic of a rice burner.
5. (countable, slang, uncountable)An instance of customization of a user interface.

   “This is my first rice!”

6. (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.”

   “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.”

   “"Gilbert White, the well-known naturalist, in a letter dated Selborne, Oct. 4th, 1775, says, 'Our people here, you know, call coppice-wood or hedge-wood rice or rise. Is this word still in use in that neighbourhood? And is it also known in Surrey?"”

7. (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 […]”

   “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.”

   “Swift (rice) Skein holder, hank holder.”

8. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)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 […]”

   “The RICE method is a simple self-care technique that aims to reduce swelling, ease pain, and speed up healing.”

9. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of rest, immobilization, cold, elevation (“a treatment method for soft-tissue injuries”).
10. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of reaction, initial, change, equilibrium (“a tabular system for keeping track of changing concentrations in an equilibrium reaction”).
11. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of reciprocating internal combustion engine.

verb

1. (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.”

   “Following ricing, the potato mash proceeds to the drum drier where flaking is done.”

   “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.”

2. (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.”

   “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.”

   “As it was, the Indian seldom bothered to harvest wild rice on public waters after opening day of the ricing season.”

3. (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.”

   “The couple was well riced and sent on their way.”

   “As the reception ended the two newlyweds were riced to death and fled into an awaiting getaway car and drove off...followed by a stream of tin cans.”

4. (transitive)To customize the user interface of a computer system, e.g. a desktop environment. (derived from rice out)

name

1. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “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.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
3. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
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8. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
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