From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rye \Rye\ (r[imac]), n. [OE. rie, reie, AS. ryge; akin to Icel.
rugr, Sw. r[*a]g, Dan. rug, D. rogge, OHG. rocco, roggo, G.
rocken, roggen, Lith. rugei, Russ. roje, and perh. to Gr.
'o`ryza rice. Cf. {Rice}.]
1. (Bot.) A grain yielded by a hardy cereal grass ({Secale
cereale}), closely allied to wheat; also, the plant
itself. Rye constitutes a large portion of the breadstuff
used by man.
[1913 Webster]
2. A disease in a hawk. --Ainsworth.
[1913 Webster]
{Rye grass}, {Italian rye grass}, (Bot.) See under {Grass}.
See also {Ray grass}, and {Darnel}.
{Wild rye} (Bot.), any plant of the genus {Elymus}, tall
grasses with much the appearance of rye.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
rye
n 1: the seed of the cereal grass
2: hardy annual cereal grass widely cultivated in northern
Europe where its grain is the chief ingredient of black bread
and in North America for forage and soil improvement [syn:
{rye}, {Secale cereale}]
3: whiskey distilled from rye or rye and malt [syn: {rye}, {rye
whiskey}, {rye whisky}]
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