The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
(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.
-
A disease in a hawk.
--Ainsworth.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.
WordNet
n. any of several grasses of the genus Elymus
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "wild rye".
They had been collecting grains of broomcorn millet and wild rye from a mixed stand that also included the nodding seed heads of unripe two-row barley, and both einkorn and emmer wheat.
Goldy Star of the Earth, City Avens, Wild Rye and Way Bennet are other local names for the plant.
We drove for over an hour and we saw no sign of him until we were heading back toward her house on a part of the road that was between two wide, flat fields overgrown with a heavy wild rye that was dying from the cold.
The lowlands on each side were waving with a rank growth of wild rye, presenting a very green and beautiful aspect.
Two miles up, west of the palace, is a ruin in forest, I think of a mosque, though only three pieces of pillars under creepers, and the weedy floor, with the courtyard and steps, remain, before it being an avenue of cedars, the path between the trees choked with long-grass and wild rye reaching to my middle.