straw

/strɔ/

/strɔ/

Other forms: straws; strawed; strawing

Straw is a fiber made from dried plant stalks. Horses love it. People make baskets, hats, bedding, fuel, and much more from straw. But not drinking straws —those are usually plastic.

Many farm animals have sleeping areas lined with straw. This stiff, dry fiber is also added to animal feed, pressed into bricks that can be burned as fuel, and even made into bales that can comprise the walls of a home. Straw is what's left over when the grain and chaff have been removed from cereal plants like wheat. The Old English streaw literally means "that which is scattered or strewn." As a color, straw is light yellowish beige.

Definitions of straw

1. noun

   plant fiber used e.g. for making baskets and hats or as fodder
   type of:

   plant fiber, plant fibre

   fiber derived from plants
2. noun

   material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
   synonyms: chaff, husk, shuck, stalk, stubble

   types:

   bran

   broken husks of the seeds of cereal grains that are separated from the flour by sifting

   type of:

   plant material, plant substance

   material derived from plants
3. noun

   a thin paper or plastic tube used to suck liquids into the mouth
   synonyms: drinking straw

   type of:

   tube, tubing

   conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases
4. noun

   a variable yellow tint; dull yellow, often diluted with white
   synonyms: pale yellow, wheat

   type of:

   yellow, yellowness

   yellow color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of sunflowers or ripe lemons
5. adjective

   of a pale yellow color like straw; straw-colored
   synonyms:

   chromatic

   being, having, or characterized by hue
6. verb

   cover or provide with or as if with straw
   “cows were strawed to weather the snowstorm”

   type of:

   cover

   provide with a covering or cause to be covered
7. verb

   spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic)
   synonyms: disseminate, strew

   types:

   bestrew

   cover by strewing

   litter

   make a place messy by strewing garbage around

   type of:

   distribute, spread

   distribute or disperse widely