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)
“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)
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
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
Yet some old and tried soldiers laughed and said, "Drowning men catch at straws; and this good fellow thinks to talk himself out of gaol."
From The Adventurous Simplicissimus being the description of the Life of a Strange vagabond named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim by Grimmelshausen, Hans Jacob Christoph von
