物干し竿（ものほしざお、monohoshizao）
- clothes-drying pole

The word 物干し竿 means "clothes drying pole" or "laundry pole" in English. It refers to a pole, typically a long, straight bar, used for hanging clothes to dry outdoors or indoors. The 物干し竿 is an essential item in Japanese households for drying laundry.

⚫︎洗濯物を物干し竿に干す。 Translation: I hang the laundry on the clothes drying pole. ⚫︎あの物干し竿は丈夫そうだね。 Translation: That clothes drying pole looks sturdy. ⚫︎物干し竿が風で倒れた。 Translation: The clothes drying pole fell over in the wind.

You can use 物干し竿 in everyday conversation when talking about doing laundry, hanging clothes to dry, or discussing the equipment used for drying clothes. It's a common and practical word. You'd use it when discussing laundry related activities or when describing the physical object.

物干し竿 is typically written in kanji and hiragana. ・Kanji: 物干し竿 ・Hiragana: ものほしざお There are no major variations in okurigana. The word is consistently written as "ものほしざお"

There are no perfect synonyms, but related terms include: ・物干し (ものほし) - clothes drying ・物干し台 (ものほしだい) - clothes drying stand ・物干し場 (ものほしじょう) - clothes drying area The nuances are slightly different, with 物干し indicating the action and 物干し台/場 referring to structures used for drying.

There are no direct antonyms for 物干し竿 in the sense of a single opposing word. However, you could consider words related to indoor drying or not drying clothes at all as the opposite of the activity.

今日は天気が良いので、洗濯物を物干し竿に干しましょう。 ・Translation: The weather is nice today, so let's hang the laundry on the clothes drying pole. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the action of hanging laundry on the clothes drying pole due to the good weather.

この物干し竿は軽くて使いやすい。 ・Translation: This clothes drying pole is lightweight and easy to use. ・Explanation: This sentence highlights the properties of the clothes drying pole.

The word is formed from: ・物 (もの) - thing, object ・干し (ほし) - drying (as in drying clothes) ・竿 (さお) - pole, rod So, literally, 物干し竿 describes a "thing (used for) drying (things) pole."