See grasp at straws on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for grasp at straws meaning in All languages combined (3.3kB)
{
"etymology_text": "In reference to a drowning person grabbing any floating object, even a straw, to save themselves. First used by Thomas More in A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation (1534).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grasps at straws",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "grasping at straws",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "grasped at straws",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "grasped at straws",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "grasp at straws (third-person singular simple present grasps at straws, present participle grasping at straws, simple past and past participle grasped at straws)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "47 53",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I've never met his mother, so I'm grasping at straws for an appropriate gift for her."
}
],
"glosses": [
"To guess randomly or pursue any apparent option, due to a lack of clear choices or information."
],
"id": "en-grasp_at_straws-en-verb-02lu-h~3",
"links": [
[
"guess",
"guess"
],
[
"random",
"random"
],
[
"option",
"option"
],
[
"information",
"information"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To guess randomly or pursue any apparent option, due to a lack of clear choices or information."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "47 53",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "29 71",
"word": "straw-clutchingly"
},
{
"_dis1": "29 71",
"word": "a drowning man will clutch at a straw"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To get hold of any help, even if it is insignificant."
],
"id": "en-grasp_at_straws-en-verb-s4IEpzaJ",
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To get hold of any help, even if it is insignificant."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "31 69",
"word": "clutch at straws"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 69",
"word": "clutch at a straw"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 69",
"word": "grab at straws"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 69",
"word": "grab at a straw"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 69",
"word": "grasp at a straw"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-grasp at straws.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/23/En-au-grasp_at_straws.ogg/En-au-grasp_at_straws.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/En-au-grasp_at_straws.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "46 54",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "chytat se stébla"
},
{
"_dis1": "46 54",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "chytat se jako tonoucí stébla"
},
{
"_dis1": "46 54",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "arrampicarsi sugli specchi"
},
{
"_dis1": "46 54",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "agarrarse a un clavo ardiendo"
},
{
"_dis1": "46 54",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "gripa efter halmstrån"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation",
"Thomas More"
],
"word": "grasp at straws"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs",
"Translation table header lacks gloss"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "straw-clutchingly"
},
{
"word": "a drowning man will clutch at a straw"
}
],
"etymology_text": "In reference to a drowning person grabbing any floating object, even a straw, to save themselves. First used by Thomas More in A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation (1534).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grasps at straws",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "grasping at straws",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "grasped at straws",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "grasped at straws",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "grasp at straws (third-person singular simple present grasps at straws, present participle grasping at straws, simple past and past participle grasped at straws)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I've never met his mother, so I'm grasping at straws for an appropriate gift for her."
}
],
"glosses": [
"To guess randomly or pursue any apparent option, due to a lack of clear choices or information."
],
"links": [
[
"guess",
"guess"
],
[
"random",
"random"
],
[
"option",
"option"
],
[
"information",
"information"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To guess randomly or pursue any apparent option, due to a lack of clear choices or information."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms"
],
"glosses": [
"To get hold of any help, even if it is insignificant."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To get hold of any help, even if it is insignificant."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-grasp at straws.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/23/En-au-grasp_at_straws.ogg/En-au-grasp_at_straws.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/En-au-grasp_at_straws.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "clutch at straws"
},
{
"word": "clutch at a straw"
},
{
"word": "grab at straws"
},
{
"word": "grab at a straw"
},
{
"word": "grasp at a straw"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "chytat se stébla"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "chytat se jako tonoucí stébla"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "arrampicarsi sugli specchi"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "agarrarse a un clavo ardiendo"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "gripa efter halmstrån"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation",
"Thomas More"
],
"word": "grasp at straws"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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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