grasp at straws

- 4 dictionary results

straw

[straw]

–noun

1.	a single stalk or stem, esp. of certain species of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, oats, and barley.

2.	a mass of such stalks, esp. 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.	a tube, usually of paper or glass, for sucking up a beverage from a container: to sip lemonade through a straw.

6.	anything of possible but dubious help in a desperate circumstance.

7.	straw man (def. 2).

8.	a straw hat.

–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.

—Idioms

13.	catch, clutch, or grasp at a straw, at straws, or at any straw or straws, 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.

Origin:
bef. 950; ME; OE strēaw; c. G Stroh; akin to strew

Related forms:

strawless, adjective

strawlike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary

straw

n.
marijuana. (Drugs.) : He stood right on the corner, selling straw by the handful from a bucket at his feet—and nobody even called the cops. , This straw is not the best quality I've seen.
n.
papers for rolling marijuana cigarettes. (Drugs.) : I can't manage the straw with one hand. How do these cowboys do it?

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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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"), from 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 c.1290. 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 1624. Straw poll is from 1932; earlier straw vote (1866). Straw hat first attested 1453. To clutch (or grasp or catch) at straws (1748) is what a drowning man proverbially would do.

Idioms & Phrases

grasp at straws

Also, clutch at straws. Make a desperate attempt at saving oneself. For example, He had lost the argument, but he kept grasping at straws, naming numerous previous cases that had little to do with this one. This metaphoric expression alludes to a drowning person trying to save himself by grabbing at flimsy reeds. First recorded in 1534, the term was used figuratively by the late 1600s.

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