straw-clutching

adjective

Of an incident or situation, desperately attempting to find a solution.

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Meanings

adjective
  1. idiomaticinformalOf an incident or situation, desperately attempting to find a solution.

    Both acts of straw-clutching would come to nothing.

    2006, Gavin Newsham, Once in a Lifetime, The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos, page 235
    2 more examples

    Every bit of straw-clutching, every bit of hope that Hugh might be alive was followed instantly by a reaction of dismay, of reluctance to pursue it.

    1962, Lionel Davidson, The Rose of Tibet, page 65

    After "little green men" and other straw-clutching explanations had been eliminated, it was realized that the source must be a rotating neutron star.

    1984, Jon Darius, Beyond Vision, page 128
Cite this entry
APA

straw-clutching. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/straw-clutching

MLA

“straw-clutching.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/straw-clutching. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “straw-clutching,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/straw-clutching.

Source: straw-clutching on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.