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grasping at straws

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
grasping at straws
Fig. to depend on something that is useless; to make a futile attempt at something. John couldn't answer the teacher's question. He was just grasping at straws. There I was, grasping at straws, with no one to help me.
See also: straw

grasping at straws also clutching at straws
1. trying to find some way to succeed when nothing you choose is likely to work Jerry, grasping at straws, searched the backup tapes from last week, looking for the missing files.
2. trying to find reasons to feel hopeful about a bad situation She thinks he might still be interested because he calls her now and then but I think she's clutching at straws.
See also: straw


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References in periodicals archive?   Idioms browser?   Full browser?
I knew I was in trouble last summer, and then I started grasping at straws," said Mr.
” “When you have to spiral down to political threats it really illustrates that NOM is grasping at straws because they know they aren't winning on the arguments,” Alan Van Capelle, executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, told Politico's Ben Smith .
Roy Spence: While everyone in corporate America is cutting costs and trying to stimulate new revenues, organizations that have a clear purpose won't be looking for silver bullets or grasping at straws or just cutting cost with no clear focus.
 
 
 
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