Word.ws English Dictionary

grab at a straw

grab at a straw is the alternative form of grasp at straws.

Meaning of grasp at straws

Verb

grasp at straws (third-person singular simple present grasps at straws, present participle grasping at straws, simple past and past participle grasped at straws)

  1. (idiomatic) To guess randomly or pursue any apparent option, due to a lack of clear choices or information.
    • I've never met his mother, so I'm grasping at straws for an appropriate gift for her.
  2. (idiomatic) To obtain any form of help, even if it is insignificant.

Forms of grab at a straw

third-person singular presentgrabs at a straw
present participlegrabbing at a straw
past participlegrabbed at a straw
pastgrabbed at a straw

Questions about grab at a straw

What is grab at a straw the alternative form of?
Grab at a straw is the alternative form of grasp at straws.

Words near grab at a straw in the dictionary

  1. grab and go
  2. grab and run
  3. grab and runs
  4. grab ass
  5. grab at
  6. grab at a straw
  7. grab at straws
  8. grab bag
  9. grab bags
  10. grab box
  11. grab boxes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: grab at a straw (page history and authors); grasp at 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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Cite this entry: “grab at a straw.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grab_at_a_straw. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.