The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (143 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs

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A DROWNING man will clutch at a straw

One grabs at the slightest chance when all hope is slipping away.
To clutch at a straw
(or
straws
) is frequently used as a metaphorical phrase.

1534
Dialogue of Comfort
(1553) iii.
Lyke a man that in peril of drowning catcheth whatsoeuer cometh next to hand .. be it neuer so simple a sticke.
1583
Fruitful & Brief Discourse
I. 30
We do not as men redie to be drowned, catch at euery straw.
1623
Contemplations
VII. xix. 252
The drowning man snatches at every twig … The messengers of Benhadad catch hastily at that stile of grace, and hold it fast.
1748
Clarissa
VII. i.
A drowning man will catch at a straw, the Proverb well says.
1877
My Lady's Money
xv.
His gratitude caught at those words, as the drowning man is said to catch at the proverbial straw.
1915
Victory
IV. viii.
Wang seemed to think my insistence .. very stupid and tactless. But a drowning man clutches at straws.
1967
&
English Proverbs Explained
49
A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
1967
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead
III. 80
We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?