straw
noun
a single stalk or stem, especially of certain species of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, oats, and barley.
straw
American
[straw]
/ strɔ /
noun
-
straws
plural
-
a single stalk or stem, especially of certain species of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, oats, and barley.
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a mass of such stalks, especially after drying and threshing, used as fodder.
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material, fibers, etc., made from such stalks, as used for making hats or baskets.
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the negligible value of one such stalk; trifle; least bit.
not to care a straw.
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a tube, usually of paper or glass, for sucking up a beverage from a container.
to sip lemonade through a straw.
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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.
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of the color of straw; pale yellow.
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of little value or consequence; worthless.
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sham; fictitious.
idioms
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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.
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catch / clutch / grasp at a straw / straws / any straw(s), to seize at any chance, no matter how slight, of saving oneself from calamity.
straw
1
British
/ strɔː /
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
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a single dry or ripened stalk, esp of a grass
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a long thin hollow paper or plastic tube or stem of a plant, used for sucking up liquids into the mouth
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(usually used with a negative) anything of little value or importance
I wouldn't give a straw for our chances
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a measure or remedy that one turns to in desperation (esp in the phrases clutch or grasp at a straw or straws )
-
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a pale yellow colour
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( as adjective )
straw hair
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a hint or indication
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a small incident, setback, etc that, coming after others, proves intolerable
adjective
Straw
2
British
/ strɔː /
noun
straw
3
British
/ strɔː /
verb
straw
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of straw
before 950; Middle English; Old English strēaw; cognate with German Stroh; akin to strew
Explanation
Straw is a fiber made from dried plant stalks. Horses love it. People make baskets, hats, bedding, fuel, and much more from straw. But not drinking straws —those are usually plastic. Many farm animals have sleeping areas lined with straw. This stiff, dry fiber is also added to animal feed, pressed into bricks that can be burned as fuel, and even made into bales that can comprise the walls of a home. Straw is what's left over when the grain and chaff have been removed from cereal plants like wheat. The Old English streaw literally means "that which is scattered or strewn." As a color, straw is light yellowish beige.
Vocabulary lists containing straw
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Sliman specialised in working in mud and straw in very effective cracked surfaces, which reminded people of history and time and the rootedness of Palestine in the earth itself," Tamari said.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Valuations today are so stretched that it may not take much more straw to break the camel’s back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The Security Council straw poll was devised in the early 1980s in an attempt to break a deadlock between two candidates shut down by vetoes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Kimberly-Clark identified hesperaloe as a top contender among 70 candidates for potential new sources of fiber, including wheat straw, leftover corn, chicken feathers, seaweed and algae.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
But at last we spread our blankets over the squirming straw and sat on them.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
"Our results suggest that visual landmarks aid the bees' navigation and increase the precision of their flight paths," explains Straw.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
"It is the first time in my life that I experience a total closure" of the Holy Sepulchre, Jack Straw, a 52-year-old resident of Jerusalem’s Old City, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
"It undermined trust in public life," former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw reflected.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
While Ahmadinejad was dressed in “vintage, early 1980s” clothes, Larijani came from “the opposite end of the sartorial spectrum: suave, wearing a carefully pressed Ralph Lauren polo shirt,” Straw wrote in his memoir.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
Straw had been laid across the cobblestones so the ride would be silent and smooth, and police stopped traffic.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
He has to constantly hydrate, so he places big cups of water on both sides of the stage with straws, but sometimes the crew and other actors help him pick up the cup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
A wipe-out, without any straws to clutch at or fig leaves to hide behind.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
“We’re grabbing for straws, trying to develop something,” an officer told the New York Times within 24 hours of the bombing.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
And, if you’re feeling playful, a whimsical bread: miniature muffins, pesto pull-apart bread, chickpea flour flatbreads, cheese straws, popovers — something that makes people point across the table and say, “Wait, what are those?”
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
I sat down at the wheel and took a few straws in my hand.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
