noun
Refers to grass that has been cut and dried for use as animal feed or bedding. The reading ほしぐさ is a less common variant.
馬に干し草をやる。
I feed hay to the horse.
納屋には干し草が積んである。
Hay is piled up in the barn.
Abbreviated kanji spelling; less common but still encountered.
Irregular okurigana usage; very rare and non-standard.
Rarely used kanji form; 乾 is not the standard character for this word.
藁 (straw) is the dried stalks of grain plants, often used for thatching or crafts, while 干し草 is dried grass used mainly for animal feed.
Compound of 干し (hoshi, 'drying', the continuative form of 干す) + 草 (kusa, 'grass'). The reading ほしぐさ is a rendaku variant.