straw-clutching

adj

straw-clutching

adj

1

Idiomatic, Informal Of an incident or situation, desperately attempting to find a solution.

Every bit of straw-clutching, every bit of hope that Hugh might be alive was followed instantly by a reaction of dismay, of reluctance to pursue it.1962, Lionel Davidson, The Rose of Tibet, page 65:
After "little green men" and other straw-clutching explanations had been eliminated, it was realized that the source must be a rotating neutron star.1984, Jon Darius, Beyond Vision, page 128:

1 more example

Both acts of straw-clutching would come to nothing.2006, Gavin Newsham, Once in a Lifetime, The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos, page 235:

Derived terms: straw-clutchingly

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.