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noun
1.
a single stalk or stem, especially of certain species of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, oats, and barley.
2.
a mass of such stalks, especially after drying and threshing, used as fodder.
3.
material, fibers, etc., made from such stalks, as used for making hats or baskets.
4.
the negligible value of one such stalk; trifle; least bit: not to care a straw.
5.
EXPANDa tube, usually of paper or glass, for sucking up a beverage from a container: to sip lemonade through a straw.
adjective
9.
of, pertaining to, containing, or made of straw: a straw hat.
10.
of the color of straw; pale yellow.
11.
of little value or consequence; worthless.
12.
sham; fictitious.
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Draw straws
is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
13.
catch/clutch/grasp/ at a straw/straws/any straw(s), to seize at any chance, no matter how slight, of saving oneself from calamity.
14.
draw straws, to decide by lottery using straws or strawlike items of different lengths, usually with the short straw or straws determining the person chosen or the loser.
Related forms
straw·less, adjective
straw·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To draw straws
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
straw
O.E. streaw "stems or stalks of certain cereals," lit. "that which is scattered or strewn," related to streowian (see strew), from P.Gmc. *strawam "that which is scattered" (cf. O.N. stra, Dan. straa, Swed. strå, O.Fris. stre, O.Du., O.H.G. stro, Ger. Stroh "straw"),
EXPANDfrom PIE *stere- "to spread" (see structure). The notion is of dried grain stalks strewn on a floor as carpeting or bedding. As a type of what is trifling or unimportant, attested from late 13c. Meaning "hollow tube through which a drink is sucked" is recorded from 1851. To draw straws as a means of deciding something is recorded from 1832. The last straw is from the proverb of the camel. Man of straw "imaginary opponent" is recorded from 1620s. Straw poll is from 1932; earlier straw vote (1866). Straw hat first attested mid-15c. To clutch (or grasp or catch) at straws (1748) is what a drowning man proverbially would do.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
straw definition
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
draw straws
Also, draw lots. Decide by a lottery using straws of different lengths. For example, Let's draw straws to see who will write the first draft. The lots version dates from the 1400s, whereas straws dates from the 1800s. Both have replaced the still older draw cuts. Another variant is draw the short straw, meaning to be the one so selected for a particular task.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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