Word.ws English Dictionary

draw straws

draw straws verb: to decide at random by drawing (selecting randomly between) straws, sticks, etc., one of which differs from the others (typically by being shorter), held in a person's hand so as to conceal which is the different one. Typically, whoever draws the short straw must complete some undesirable task. Alternatively, whoever draws the longest straw gets a desired position.

Verb

draw straws (third-person singular simple present draws straws, present participle drawing straws, simple past drew straws, past participle drawn straws)

  1. To decide at random by drawing (selecting randomly between) straws, sticks, etc., one of which differs from the others (typically by being shorter), held in a person's hand so as to conceal which is the different one. Typically, whoever draws the short straw must complete some undesirable task. Alternatively, whoever draws the longest straw gets a desired position.
    • They drew straws to see who had to wash the dishes.
    • We drew straws, and today's my day to go to school. We're all taking turns so we each only go once a week.1990 January 23, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic)
  2. (broadly) To decide by any means of chance.

Forms of draw straws

third-person singular presentdraws straws
present participledrawing straws
pastdrew straws
past participledrawn straws

Questions about draw straws

What does draw straws mean?
Draw straws means to decide at random by drawing (selecting randomly between) straws, sticks, etc., one of which differs from the others (typically by being shorter), held in a person's hand so as to conceal which is the different one. Typically, whoever draws the short straw must complete some undesirable task. Alternatively, whoever draws the longest straw gets a desired position.
What part of speech is draw straws?
Draw straws is a verb.
What is the past tense of draw straws?
The past tense of draw straws is drew straws.

Words near draw straws in the dictionary

  1. draw rod
  2. draw rods
  3. draw sheet
  4. draw sheets
  5. draw soup
  6. draw straws
  7. draw stumps
  8. draw the cloth
  9. draw the curtains
  10. draw the line
  11. draw the long bow

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: draw straws (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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