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.
A new character appears, but not a very amiable one; but I attach myself to him, as drowning men catch at straws.
From Japhet, in Search of a Father by Marryat, Frederick
It is well said, a drowning man will catch at straws.
From Auricular Confession and Popish Nunneries Volumes I. and II., Complete by Hogan, William
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)
What could possess me to make such a request of such a man I cannot tell; but drowning men catch at straws: they had driven me desperate between them; I hardly knew what I said.
From The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Brontë, Anne
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
