Sushi
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A Japanese dish made of small portions of sticky white rice flavored with vinegar, usually wrapped in seaweed and filled or topped with fish, vegetables or meat. uncountable, usually
"For the vegetarians, she served cucumber sushi."
- 2 A person who typifies a mixture of Shiism and Sunnism informal
"Then there are the "Sushi" neighborhoods and towns - a mixture of some Sunni, some Shia, hence Sushi"
- 3 rice (with raw fish) wrapped in seaweed wordnet
- 4 One of the portions from this dish. countable, rare, usually
"You will recall that, contrary to the relative appearance of the words, the sashimi are the simple raw fish slices and the sushi are the rolls of rice and raw fish."
- 5 Raw fish, especially as a Japanese dish. proscribed, uncountable, usually
"'Can't eat sushi?' I said. Then Mom said, 'You can't eat uncooked fish when you're pregnant' as if I'm the one stupid enough to go and get pregnant!"
- 1 To prepare (a food) as sushi. informal, transitive
"Our finned friends come in all varieties: sushi-ed, fresh, smoked and otherwise packaged for your consumption."
Example
More examples"Sushi is good, but Thai dishes are better."
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 寿司(すし) (sushi, “sushi (sour rice)”), ultimately from archaic conjugation 酸(す)し (sushi, “sour, vinegared”) of modern adjective 酸(す)い (sui, “sour, vinegared”).
Related phrases
More for "sushi"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.