straw
noun
a single stalk or stem, especially of certain species of grain, chiefly wheat, rye, oats, and barley.
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straw
American
[straw]
/ strɔ /
noun
-
straws
plural
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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.
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a straw hat.
adjective
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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
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( 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:
On Tuesday she’ll answer questions and on Wednesday a new Security Council straw poll will be held.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
With their title ambitions in ruins, manager Renee Slegers was facing weekly questions about her future and defeat by Spurs could have been the last straw.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
The time period is vaguely medieval and the accents British, save for Skarsgård, who speaks in a flat, neutral exhale, the sound of breeze riffling through straw.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Humans, for instance, can drink through a straw while upside down and still breathe.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
I wiggled my nose, but the straw was old, settled.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
"Our tracking system makes it possible for the first time to record high-resolution 3D flight paths of honey bees in natural landscapes," 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
The second, Netflix’s “One Piece,” which returns March 10, follows the ragtag Straw Hat Pirates of executive producer Eiichiro Oda’s manga series as they pursue the valuable One Piece treasure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026
Toronto's Alejandro Kirk was hit by a pitch from reliever Roki Sasaki and replaced by speedy pinch-runner Myles Straw, before Addison Barger's line drive wedged under the wall in left centre field.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
Straw poked from his head like extra hair.
From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli
Should we draw straws to see who gets it?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
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
It's clutching at straws to try to look for France weaknesses because at times you watch open-mouthed in amazement when the front four is in full flow.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 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
I stick in one of those long wiggly plastic straws that Mom kept from when I was four and sit on the window ledge in the living room, sipping slowly while smiling at the birds.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
