Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

straw

[straw]

Origin

drinking straw supplier www.mengte.cc Professional manufacturers in kinds of Straw product, High Quality

Dictionary.com Free Toolbar Dictionary.com Define Straw Instantly. Faster Page Loads With Fewer Ads.

Ads

noun

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

a mass of such stalks, especially after drying and threshing, used as fodder.

material, fibers, etc., made from such stalks, as used for making hats or baskets.

the negligible value of one such stalk; trifle; least bit: not to care a straw.

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

EXPAND

anything of possible but dubious help in a desperate circumstance.

straw man (def. 2).

a straw hat.

COLLAPSE

adjective

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.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Straw is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Idioms

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.

Origin:
before 950; Middle English; Old English strēaw; cognate with German Stroh; akin to strew

Related forms

straw·less, adjective

straw·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To straw

Collins

World English Dictionary

straw¹ (strɔː)

—n
1.	a. stalks of threshed grain, esp of wheat, rye, oats, or barley, used in plaiting hats, baskets, etc, or as fodder
	b. (as modifier): a straw hat
2.	a single dry or ripened stalk, esp of a grass
3.	a long thin hollow paper or plastic tube or stem of a plant, used for sucking up liquids into the mouth
4.	(usually used with a negative) anything of little value or importance: I wouldn't give a straw for our chances
5.	a measure or remedy that one turns to in desperation (esp in the phrases clutchorgrasp at a straworstraws)
6.	a. a pale yellow colour
	b. (as adjective): straw hair
7.	straw in the wind a hint or indication
8.	the last straw a small incident, setback, etc that, coming after others, proves intolerable

—*adj*
9.	chiefly (US) having little value or substance

[Old English streaw; related to Old Norse strā, Old Frisian strē, Old High German strō; see strew]

'strawlike¹

—*adj*

straw² (strɔː)

—vb
	archaic another word for strew

Straw (strɔː)

—n
	Jack, full name John Whitaker Straw. born 1946, British Labour politician; Home Secretary (1997--2001); Foreign Secretary (2001--06); Lord Chancellor from 2007

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

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"),

EXPAND

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 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

Slang Dictionary

straw definition

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.
Cite This Source

Easton

Bible Dictionary