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 people, it is said, catch at straws.

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

But the frail death-agony effort to catch at straws of memory, straws of life from the past, brought on too great a nausea.

From England, My England by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)

"Good luck to you, beastie, and may you find a secure hiding place until your quills have grown." rowning men catch at straws.

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930 by Various

It is an old saying that 'drowning men catch at straws.'

From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by Rameur, E.

At such times the mind, fearful for herself, catches at phrases and fancies, as drowning men catch at straws.

From An Old Meerschaum From Coals Of Fire And Other Stories, Volume II. (of III.) by Murray, David Christie