catch at straws

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Drowning men, as you know, catch at straws; and this is a wise arrangement, for otherwise they would not often be saved by planks.

From Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders Cogitations and Confessions of an Aged Physician by Alcott, William A. (William Andrus)

Dying men catch at straws, and, to appeal to this passage is as if one were catching at a straw.

From The Doctrines of Predestination, Reprobation, and Election by Wallace, Robert

Drowning men will catch at straws, and Herbert, in his trouble, tried to think this was probably the way it had happened.

From Try and Trust by Alger, Horatio

One hope I clung to, as the drowning catch at straws.

From Branded by Lynde, Francis

He had always tried to keep it out of his home life, but in times like these a man must be ready to catch at straws.

From We Three by Hutt, Henry