mo·chi (m??ch?)n.1. Cooked sticky rice pounded into a paste, formed into balls or cakes, and used to make sweets and savory dishes in Japanese cuisine. 2. A cake formed from such paste. 3. The variety of short-grain rice, having a sticky, glutinous consistency when cooked, used to make mochi. Also called mochi rice.[Japanese, from Old Japanese.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.