straw
noun
- hollow stalks or stems of grain after threshing, collectively: used for fodder, for bedding, for making hats, etc.
- a single one of such stalks
- such a stalk or, now esp., a tube of waxed paper, plastic, etc., used for sucking beverages
- something, as a hat, made of straw
- something of little or no value; worthless trifle
- straw man (sense )
- see last straw
adjective
- straw-colored; yellowish
- made of straw
- of little or no value or significance; worthless; meaningless
See straw in American Heritage Dictionary 4
straw
nouna. Stalks of threshed grain, used as bedding and food for animals, for thatching, and for weaving or braiding, as into baskets.
b. A single stalk of threshed grain.
- Something, such as a hat or basket, made of straw.
- A slender tube used for sucking up a liquid.
a. Something of minimal value or importance.
b. Something with too little substance to provide support in a crisis: Near the end we were grasping at straws.
adjective- Of, relating to, or made of straw: a straw mat.
- Containing or used for straw, as a barn or feeding trough.
- Of the color of straw; yellowish.
- Having little or no value or substance; unimportant.
- Of, relating to, or constituting a straw man.
Origin: Middle English, from Old English strēaw; see ster-2 in Indo-European roots.
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