Chinese word

稻草

Pronunciation

Pinyindào cǎo

Meaning

  • nounstraw

Example

请把稻草丢到那堆里。qǐng bǎ dào cǎo diū dào nà duī lǐ

Please throw the straw into that pile.

Illustration for 稻草 (straw)

More examples

秋收后，农民把稻草打成一捆一捆，留作饲料。qiū shōu hòu nóng mín bǎ dào cǎo dǎ chéng yì kǔn yì kǔn liú zuò sì liào

After the fall harvest, farmers tie the straw into bundles and save it as feed.

Core concept

Harvested rice stems turned into a light, fibrous material for bedding, feed, fuel, or crafts.

Common phrases

  • 稻草堆dào cǎo duī

    pile of straw

  • 一捆稻草yì kǔn dào cǎo

    a bundle of straw

  • 稻草人dào cǎo rén

    scarecrow

Similar words

草cǎo: A general term for small green plants that grow from the ground, including lawn and field plants.
干草gān cǎo: Grass or forage cut and dried for animal feed or bedding.

Definition in Chinese

指水稻收割后晾干的茎秆，常用作垫料、饲料、燃料或手工材料。zhǐ shuǐ dào shōu gē hòu liàng gān de jīng gǎn cháng yòng zuò diàn liào sì liào rán liào huò shǒu gōng cái liào

Word origin

稻 (dào, "rice plant") + 草 (cǎo, "grass") names the crop and its plant material, giving the dried stems left after rice harvest.

Usage tips

  • Unlike English straw, which can mean a drinking tube, this word refers to an agricultural material, so the surrounding context is usually farming, bedding, fuel, or crafts.

Other meanings

  • rice strawnoun

Related words

  • 稻草人dào cǎo rénscarecrownoun
  • 稻草堆dào cǎo duīpile of strawnoun

Word lists with this word