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| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| straw poll or chiefly (US), (Canadian), (NZ) straw vote | |
| —n | |
| an unofficial poll or vote taken to determine the opinion of a group or the public on some issue | |
| straw vote or chiefly (US), (Canadian), (NZ) straw vote | |
| —n | |
| Main Entry: | straw vote |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | See straw poll |
straw vote
Also, straw poll. An unofficial vote or poll indicating how people feel about a candidate or issue. For example, Let's take a straw poll on the bill and see how it fares. This idiom alludes to a straw used to show in what direction the wind blows, in this case the wind of public opinion. O. Henry joked about it in A Ruler of Men (1907): "A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows." [c. 1885]