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straw

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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.
Use straw in a Sentence
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. 2010.
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straw   (strô)   
n.  

    1. Stalks of threshed grain, used as bedding and food for animals, for thatching, and for weaving or braiding, as into baskets.

    2. A single stalk of threshed grain.

    3. Something of minimal value or importance.

    4. Something with too little substance to provide support in a crisis: Near the end we were grasping at straws.

  2. Something, such as a hat or basket, made of straw.

  3. A slender tube used for sucking up a liquid.

    1. Something of minimal value or importance.

    2. Something with too little substance to provide support in a crisis: Near the end we were grasping at straws.

adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or made of straw: a straw mat.

  2. Containing or used for straw, as a barn or feeding trough.

  3. Of the color of straw; yellowish.

  4. Having little or no value or substance; unimportant.

  5. Of, relating to, or constituting a straw man.


[Middle English, from Old English strēaw; see ster-2 in Indo-European roots.]
straw'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
straw

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Straw

Used in brick-making (Ex. 5:7-18). Used figuratively in Job 41:27; Isa. 11:7; 25:10; 65:25.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

straw

In addition to the idioms beginning with straw, also see draw straws; grasp at straws; last straw; make bricks without straw; not worth a dime (straw).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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