STRAW • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Straw

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noun

Straw n.

1.

A stalk or stem of certain species of grain, pulse, etc., especially of wheat, rye, oats, barley, more rarely of buckwheat, beans, and pease.

2.

The gathered and thrashed stalks of certain species of grain, etc.; as, a bundle, or a load, of rye straw.

3.

Anything proverbially worthless; the least possible thing; a mere trifle. "I set not a straw by thy dreamings." Note: Straw is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, straw-built, straw-crowned, straw-roofed, straw-stuffed, and the like.

Man of straw, an effigy formed by stuffing the garments of a man with straw; hence, a fictitious person; an irresponsible person; a puppet.

Straw bail, worthless bail, as being given by irresponsible persons. (Colloq. U.S.)

Straw bid, a worthless bid; a bid for a contract which the bidder is unable or unwilling to fulfill. (Colloq. U.S.)

Straw cat (Zool.), the pampas cat.

Straw color, the color of dry straw, being a delicate yellow.

Straw drain, a drain filled with straw.

Straw plait, or Straw plat, a strip formed by plaiting straws, used for making hats, bonnets, etc.

To be in the straw, to be brought to bed, as a pregnant woman. (Slang)

verb

Straw v. t. To spread or scatter. See Strew, and Strow.

See images of 'Straw'

Etymology of 'Straw'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Straw" Quotes from Famous Books

... much did taste and fashion rule the time then, that spoons were distinguished as it were by so many devices. It was, and is still with some persons, a custom to present spoons at christenings, or on visiting "the lady in the straw;" and in both cases they were adorned with suitable imagery. A gentleman with whom I am acquainted, and who "keeps a cabinet of curiosities," lately showed me two very curious silver spoons, which he informed me had remained in his family many years; but how they became ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 13, No. 362, Saturday, March 21, 1829 • Various

... adventurers, that I was really surprised such a master of his art as my present friend would condescend to it. It belonged altogether to an inferior practitioner; and, indeed, he quickly saw the effect it had produced upon me, as he said, "Not that I care a straw for the fellows I associate with; my theory is, a gentleman ...

— Cornelius O'Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General - Originally Published In Blackwood's Magazine - 1864 • Charles Lever

... replied. "We have orders to watch the movements of the enemy. We wish to be of no trouble. If there is an empty shed, we should be glad of it; still more so if there is a truss or two of straw." ...

— No Surrender! - A Tale of the Rising in La Vendee • G. A. Henty

... Poultry. For mine own part, if you shall think it meet, and that it shall accord with the state of gentry to submit myself from the feather-bed in the master's side[387] or the flock-bed in the knight's ward, to the straw-bed in the hole, I shall buckle to my heels, instead of gilt spurs, the armour of patience, ...

— A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. IX • Various

... and quaint. On either side of the lane, old-fashioned cottages, with whitewash walls and thatched roofs, stood amidst gardens filled with unclipped greenery and homely flowers. Quickset hedges, ragged and untrimmed, divided these from the roadway, and to add to the rural look one garden possessed straw bee-hives. Here and there rose ancient elm-trees and grass grew in the roadway. It was a blind lane and terminated in a hedge, which bordered a field of corn. To the left was a narrow path running between hedges past the cottages and into ...

— The Secret Passage • Fergus Hume

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