Printer Friendly
The Free Dictionary
1,018,708,182 visitors served.
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

grasping at straws

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.14 sec.
grasping at straws
1. 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.
2. 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.
See also: straw

?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
? References in periodicals archive
But in person, Fetzer sounds less like an unscrupulous author grasping at straws than a man determined to preach his truth to the world at large, whether or not the world is ready to hear it.
Patrick Mosman seems to be grasping at straws in his vague assertions about ricin and "small caches" of WMD.
By all indications, Casden is grasping at straws to get back at Cooley.
 
Idioms browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Idioms and phrases
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.. Terms of Use.