See a drowning man will clutch at a straw on Wiktionary
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "a drowning man will grab at a straw",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "a drowning man will grasp at a straw",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "a drowning man will grab at straws",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "a drowning man will grasp at straws",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "proverb",
"head": "~drowning"
},
"expansion": "a drowning man will clutch at a straw",
"name": "en-head"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "proverb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English proverbs",
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{
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},
{
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},
{
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person in urgent need of assistance will seize any available form of aid, regardless of its insignificance."
],
"id": "en-a_drowning_man_will_clutch_at_a_straw-en-proverb-Fs6RwbFd",
"links": [
[
"urgent",
"urgent"
],
[
"need",
"need"
],
[
"assistance",
"assistance"
],
[
"seize",
"seize"
],
[
"available",
"available"
],
[
"form",
"form"
],
[
"aid",
"aid"
],
[
"regardless",
"regardless"
],
[
"insignificance",
"insignificance"
]
],
"related": [
{
"word": "grasp at straws"
},
{
"word": "beggars can't be choosers"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"lang_code": "ar",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "الغريق يتعلق بقشة"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "bìng jí luàn tóu yī",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "病急亂投醫 /病急乱投医"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"lang_code": "cs",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tonoucí se i stébla chytá"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"lang_code": "cs",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tonoucí se stébla chytá"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "hukkuva tarttuu oljenkorteen"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tout est bon à qui se noie"
},
{
"alt": "おぼれるものはわらをもつかむ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "oboreru mono wa wara o mo tsukamu",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "溺れる者は藁をも掴む"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "mure ppajimyeon jipuragirado jamneunda",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "물에 빠지면 지푸라기라도 잡는다"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tonący brzytwy się chwyta"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "utopájuščij i za solóminku xvatájetsja",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "утопа́ющий и за соло́минку хвата́ется"
}
]
}
],
"word": "a drowning man will clutch at a straw"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "a drowning man will grab at a straw",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "a drowning man will grasp at a straw",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "a drowning man will grab at straws",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "a drowning man will grasp at straws",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "proverb",
"head": "~drowning"
},
"expansion": "a drowning man will clutch at a straw",
"name": "en-head"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "proverb",
"related": [
{
"word": "grasp at straws"
},
{
"word": "beggars can't be choosers"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English proverbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Arabic translations",
"Terms with Czech translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Korean translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Translation table header lacks gloss"
],
"glosses": [
"A person in urgent need of assistance will seize any available form of aid, regardless of its insignificance."
],
"links": [
[
"urgent",
"urgent"
],
[
"need",
"need"
],
[
"assistance",
"assistance"
],
[
"seize",
"seize"
],
[
"available",
"available"
],
[
"form",
"form"
],
[
"aid",
"aid"
],
[
"regardless",
"regardless"
],
[
"insignificance",
"insignificance"
]
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"lang_code": "ar",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "الغريق يتعلق بقشة"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "bìng jí luàn tóu yī",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "病急亂投醫 /病急乱投医"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"lang_code": "cs",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tonoucí se i stébla chytá"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"lang_code": "cs",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tonoucí se stébla chytá"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "hukkuva tarttuu oljenkorteen"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tout est bon à qui se noie"
},
{
"alt": "おぼれるものはわらをもつかむ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "oboreru mono wa wara o mo tsukamu",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "溺れる者は藁をも掴む"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "mure ppajimyeon jipuragirado jamneunda",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "물에 빠지면 지푸라기라도 잡는다"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "tonący brzytwy się chwyta"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "utopájuščij i za solóminku xvatájetsja",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "утопа́ющий и за соло́минку хвата́ется"
}
],
"word": "a drowning man will clutch at a straw"
}
Download raw JSONL data for a drowning man will clutch at a straw meaning in All languages combined (3.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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