Rice n.  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.
 Ant rice. Bot. See under Ant.
 French rice. Bot. See Amelcorn.
 Indian rice., a tall reedlike water grass (Zizania aquatica), bearing panicles of a long, slender grain, much used for food by North American Indians. It is common in shallow water in the Northern States. Called also water oat, Canadian wild rice, etc.
 Mountain rice, any species of an American genus (Oryzopsis) of grasses, somewhat resembling rice.
 Rice bunting. Zool. Same as Ricebird.
 Rice hen Zool., the Florida gallinule.
 Rice mouse Zool., a large dark-colored field mouse (Calomys palistris) of the Southern United States.
 Rice paper, a kind of thin, delicate paper, brought from China, -- used for painting upon, and for the manufacture of fancy articles. It is made by cutting the pith of a large herb (Fatsia papyrifera, related to the ginseng) into one roll or sheet, which is flattened out under pressure. Called also pith paper.
 Rice troupial Zool., the bobolink.
 Rice water, a drink for invalids made by boiling a small quantity of rice in water.
 Rice-water discharge Med., a liquid, resembling rice water in appearance, which is vomited, and discharged from the bowels, in cholera.
 Rice weevil Zool., a small beetle (Calandra oryzae, or Sitophilus oryzae) which destroys rice, wheat, and Indian corn by eating out the interior; -- called also black weevil.

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 Am·el·corn n.  A variety of wheat from which starch is produced; -- called also French rice.

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 French prop. a.  Of or pertaining to France or its inhabitants.
  French bean Bot., the common kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).
 French berry Bot., the berry of a species of buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), which affords a saffron, green or purple pigment.
 French casement Arch. See French window, under Window.
 French chalk Min., a variety of granular talc; -- used for drawing lines on cloth, etc. See under Chalk.
 French cowslip Bot. The Primula Auricula. See Bear's-ear.
 French fake Naut., a mode of coiling a rope by running it backward and forward in parallel bends, so that it may run freely.
 French honeysuckle Bot. a plant of the genus Hedysarum (H. coronarium); -- called also garland honeysuckle.
 French horn, a metallic wind instrument, consisting of a long tube twisted into circular folds and gradually expanding from the mouthpiece to the end at which the sound issues; -- called in France cor de chasse.
 French leave, an informal, hasty, or secret departure; esp., the leaving a place without paying one's debts.
 French pie [French (here used in sense of “foreign”) + pie a magpie (in allusion to its black and white color)] Zool., the European great spotted woodpecker (Dryobstes major); -- called also wood pie.
 French polish. (a) A preparation for the surface of woodwork, consisting of gums dissolved in alcohol, either shellac alone, or shellac with other gums added. (b) The glossy surface produced by the application of the above.
 French purple, a dyestuff obtained from lichens and used for coloring woolen and silken fabrics, without the aid of mordants. --Ure.
 French red rouge.
 French rice, amelcorn.
 French roof Arch., a modified form of mansard roof having a nearly flat deck for the upper slope.
 French tub, a dyer's mixture of protochloride of tin and logwood; -- called also plum tub. --Ure.
 French window. See under Window.