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.
“What’s that?” exclaimed several of the men eagerly, catching at their comrade’s words as drowning men are said to catch at straws.
From The Red Eric by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)
Drowning men catch at straws, and the spectacled visage of the auctioneer, as he clings wildly to his rostrum, is a perfect study of terrified imbecility.
From English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century. How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times. by Everitt, Graham
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)
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
Notwithstanding its improbability, the idea takes, and is entertained, as drowning men catch at straws.
From The Death Shot A Story Retold by Reid, Mayne
