nori

IPA/ˈnɔː.ri/
IPA/ˈnɔːr.i/

nori — noun

1. a Japanese food made from edible seaweed that has been dried into flat pieces. P

1.nounB2
Definition

a Japanese food made from edible seaweed that has been dried into flat pieces. People use it to wrap rice dishes or break it into small bits to add flavor to food.

Example

Hoa cut a sheet of nori into strips for the noodle soup.

pattern: a sheet of nori

Imran wrapped warm rice and tuna in nori before packing lunch.

collocation: wrap rice in nori

Common collocations
  • a sheet of nori
  • roasted nori
  • nori strips
  • nori snack
  • wrap rice in nori
  • crumbled nori
Synonyms
  • laver

    a cooking or botanical term for the seaweed used to make nori, but less common in everyday English

  • dried seaweed

    a broader plain-English phrase that can refer to nori and other edible seaweeds

Usage Note

Nori is usually uncountable when you mean the ingredient in general. To talk about one unit, say "a sheet of nori" or "a piece of nori," not "a nori."

Common Mistakes

I need a nori for this sushi roll.
I need a sheet of nori for this sushi roll.
Use a measure noun such as 'sheet' instead of 'a' directly before 'nori'.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Nori is the word English speakers usually use for the dried seaweed sheets found in Japanese food. Seaweed is much broader: it can mean many kinds of marine plants or algae, whether they are still growing in the water or already prepared for food. Laver is closer in meaning to nori because it names the seaweed species often used to make it, but laver sounds more technical or regional in everyday English. In a recipe or restaurant context, 'nori' is the most natural choice.

nori ↗laverseaweed ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • nori sheet
  • nori snack
  • nori strips

Phrases

  • a sheet of nori
  • wrap rice in nori
  • crumble nori over ramen

Prepositions

  • in nori

Etymology

JapaneseEnglish

Nori entered English from Japanese nori (海苔), the ordinary Japanese word for edible seaweed products. In English it usually refers to the dried sheets used in Japanese cooking rather than to seaweed growing naturally in the ocean.