- 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.
- straw man (def. 2).
- a straw hat.
- 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.
- to seize at any chance, no matter how slight, of saving oneself from calamity.
- 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.
- stalks of threshed grain, esp of wheat, rye, oats, or barley, used in plaiting hats, baskets, etc, or as fodder
- (as modifier)
- 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
- anything of little value or importance
- 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)
- a hint or indication
- a small incident, setback, etc that, coming after others, proves intolerable
- having little value or substance
- archaic another word for strew
- Jack, full name John Whitaker Straw. born 1946, British Labour politician; Home Secretary (1997–2001); Foreign Secretary (2001–06); Lord Chancellor (2007–10)
