The Chinese word 稻草 (dàocǎo), meaning "rice straw," is a compound noun formed by combining two meaningful characters: 稻 (dào), which specifically means "rice plant" or "paddy," and 草 (cǎo), which has the general meaning of "grass" or "straw." It follows a common modifier-noun structure in Chinese word formation, where the first character 稻 specifies the type, and the second character 草 denotes the general category. Thus, the compound literally and logically translates to "rice grass" or "rice straw," referring to the dry stalks of the rice plant left after harvest.