also: ばっかん
wheat straw; barley straw
Refers to the dried stalks of wheat or barley, often used for crafts, thatching, or as a material. The word itself is neutral and common.
Make a hat out of wheat straw.
麦わらを集めて畑を片付けた。
We gathered the barley straw and cleared the field.
Common mixed kanji-kana spelling. The kana わら avoids the less common kanji 藁.
Full kanji spelling using 藁 (straw). Less common in everyday writing.
Rare kanji spelling using 稈 (stalk). Also read ばっかん.
Rare on'yomi reading of 麦稈. Not commonly used.
Compound of 麦 (mugi, 'wheat/barley') and わら (wara, 'straw'). The reading ばっかん is the on'yomi of 麦稈.