Meaning
To attempt any desperate, unlikely remedy or explanation when a situation seems hopeless and better options have run out.
It often carries a slightly pitying or critical tone — the attempt is understood as unlikely to work, motivated by desperation rather than genuine promise.
Origin
The image is of a drowning person trying to grab floating grass straws to stay afloat — something far too flimsy to actually support any weight, making the gesture more a sign of desperation than a real solution. Sir Thomas More established the broader drowning-man metaphor in his 1534 work “A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation,” writing that a man in peril of drowning “catchest whatsoever cometh next to hand… be it never so simple a stick,” though More did not specifically mention straw. The specific “catch at a straw” wording is first recorded in John Prime’s 1583 “Fruitful and Brief Discourse”: “We do not as men redie to be drowned, catch at euery straw.” The now-standard “clutch at straws” phrasing did not fully stabilize until the 19th century, appearing in an 1832 issue of “The New-York Mirror” describing people acting “as drowning men clutch at straws.”
Examples
At this point, he’s just grasping at straws.
The defense was grasping at straws by the end of the trial.
Don’t grasp at straws — look at the facts instead.
A: “He blamed the weather for the failed launch.” B: “He’s grasping at straws.”
Frequently asked questions
What does 'Grasp at straws' mean?
To attempt any desperate, unlikely remedy or explanation when a situation seems hopeless and better options have run out.
It often carries a slightly pitying or critical tone — the attempt is understood as unlikely to work, motivated by desperation rather than genuine promise.