noun
A type of sushi that consists of a lump of cooked, vinegar-seasoned rice rounded and pressed by hand into a loaflike shape and then topped with a thin slice of usually raw seafood, sometimes seasoned with wasabi and bound together by a strip of seaweed.
Origin of nigiri
From Japanese nigirizushi nigiri a gripping, a grasping, a hand-pressed ball or lump of rice ( from nigiru to grip, grasp, roll a ball of rice in the hand ) ( from Old Japanese to grip, grasp ) -zushi combining form of sushi sushi ; see sushi.