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straw
[ straw ]
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.
- anything of possible but dubious help in a desperate circumstance.
- a straw hat.
adjective
- of, pertaining to, containing, or made of straw:
a straw hat.
- of the color of straw; pale yellow.
- of little value or consequence; worthless.
- sham; fictitious.
Straw
1/ ٰɔː /
noun
- StrawJack1946MBritishPOLITICS: politicianPOLITICS: statesman Jack, full name John Whitaker Straw. born 1946, British Labour politician; Home Secretary (1997–2001); Foreign Secretary (2001–06); Lord Chancellor (2007–10)
straw
2/ ٰɔː /
noun
- stalks of threshed grain, esp of wheat, rye, oats, or barley, used in plaiting hats, baskets, etc, or as fodder
- ( as modifier )
a straw hat
- a single dry or ripened stalk, esp of a grass
- a long thin hollow paper or plastic tube or stem of a plant, used for sucking up liquids into the mouth
- usually used with a negative anything of little value or importance
I wouldn't give a straw for our chances
- a measure or remedy that one turns to in desperation (esp in the phrases clutch or grasp at a straw or straws )
- a pale yellow colour
- ( as adjective )
straw hair
- straw in the winda hint or indication
- the last strawa small incident, setback, etc that, coming after others, proves intolerable
adjective
- having little value or substance
straw
3/ ٰɔː /
verb
- archaic.another word for strew
Derived Forms
- ˈٰˌ, adjective
Other Word Forms
- ٰl adjective
- ٰl adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of straw1
Idioms and Phrases
- catch / clutch / grasp at a straw / straws / any straw(s), to seize at any chance, no matter how slight, of saving oneself from calamity.
- 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.
More idioms and phrases containing straw
- draw straws
- grasp at straws
- last straw
- make bricks without straw
- not worth a dime (straw)
Example Sentences
The UN panel says two Haitian brothers based in the US had used "straw buyers" – individuals buying on their behalf – to buy the weapons in the seized shipment.
But the situation took a turn when Ivania was kidnapped and this was the "straw that broke that camel's back" in order for them to leave, Mr Gale said.
And there are the napkins, straws, produce, kitchenware, even the light fixtures, many of which are imported from China.
This is the rhetorical device the real-talk brigade uses to self-authenticate its own arguments, to tear down the straw people they establish as the targets of their ire.
Of the uncertainty caused by Trump’s lack of clarity about the size and timing of his tariffs, Dimon added, “In the short run, I see this as one large additional straw on the camel’s back.”
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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