1. 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
   "Rye bread is darker and denser than wheat bread";
   - Secale cereale
    
2. The seed of the cereal grass
   "Rye is often used to make hearty, dark breads"
    
3. Whiskey distilled from rye or rye and malt
   "He preferred rye whiskey for its spicy flavour";
   - rye whiskey, rye whisky

Sounds like: writing, rightin

Derived forms: ryes

Type of: caryopsis, cereal, cereal grass, grain, usquebaugh [UK, Ireland, dialect], whiskey [N. Amer, Ireland], whisky

Part of: genus Secale, Secale

Encyclopedia: Rye, New Hampshire