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单词 straw
释义

strawn.1

Brit. /strɔː/, U.S. /strɔ/, /strɑ/
Forms: α. Old English stréaw, strau, Middle English strauȝ, strauue, Middle English–1600s strawe, Middle English strauhe, strawh, Middle English– straw; β. Old English stréow, streu(w, strew (plural strewu); γ. Old English stré, Old English–Middle English, 1800s dialect stree, Middle English–1500s stre (plural stren), Middle English–1500s, 1700s–1800s dialect strey, 1600s–1800s dialect strea, streea, streay (1600s plural strease); δ. Middle English–1800s northern stra (Middle English plural strase), 1500s–1600s Scottish strai, stray (plural strais), 1500s–1800s Scottish strae; ε. Middle English strowh, Middle English–1500s Scottish and northern stro, stroye, 1600s stroe, Middle English–1600s strowe.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Common Germanic (not found in Gothic): Old English stréaw neuter = Old Frisian strê (North Frisian strâi , stre , West Frisian strie ), Old Saxon, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch strô (Dutch stroo ) neuter, Old High German, Middle High German strô neuter, genitive strawes , strôwes (modern German stroh masculine), Old Norse strá neuter (Swedish strå , Danish straa ) < Germanic *strawo- , < root *strau- : streu- : see strew v.The Old Norse form strá is probably in part the source of the Scottish and Northern stra, strae, etc. and of the North Midland and Northern stro, though in some dialectal areas the normal phonetic development from Old English would issue in forms coincident with these. The Scottish stro of the 15–16th cent. is a literary alteration of stra.
I. Collective singular.
1.
a. The stems or stalks (esp. dry and separated by threshing) of certain cereals, chiefly wheat, barley, oats, and rye. Used for many purposes, e.g. as litter and as fodder for cattle, as filling for bedding, as thatch, also plaited or woven as material for hats, beehives, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > fodder > hay or straw
hayc825
strawc1000
pease-strawa1325
bean-strawc1386
hard meat1481
quitch?1523
meadow1557
pease-bolt1573
salt hay1648
stover1669
barley-straw1678
marsh hay1728
pea straw1735
chaff1772
long forage1794
bog-hay1799
bhusa1829
peavine hay1846
tibbin1900
slough hay1934
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw
strawc1000
gloyc1336
strummel1567
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > for thatching
thacka900
wattlesc900
thatch1398
thackingc1440
litter1453
long straw1591
helm1669
thatching1671
straw1765
yelma1825
thatch-grass1884
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) iv. 8 Foenum, gærs oððe streow [v.rr. streaw, strau].
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) xiii. 83 Foenum strew [v.rr. streow, streaw, strau].
c1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 114 Bærne þanne streuw.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 404 Sume hi cuwon heora gescy,..sume streaw.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 859 How is this candele in the strawe y-falle?
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 233 Whan he streyneth hym to streche þe strawe is his schetes.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 119 Swepte as þe pament from hilyyng of stree.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7204 His bandes al he brac in tua, Als þai had ben made bot on stra.
1422 J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 239 Suche a stomake is likenyd to the litill fire, that may brande but flex or stree.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Isa. lxv. 25 A lioun and an oxe schulen ete stree.
c1440 J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep 196 As pilwes been to chaumbris agreable, So is hard strauhe litteer for the stable.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert vi. 71 On his bed had our maystir Gilbert..no bolstering but strawe.
c1460 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Oseney Abbey (1907) 144 Þe chaffe schall Abide togedur with þe strow to me and to my heyres.
1491 in Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1839) I. 222/1 For hay & stra price xxiiij s.
1501 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 124 Item,..to James Dog to by stray to the Kingis chamir in Invernes, xvj d.
a1505 R. Henryson Test. Cresseid 439 in Poems (1981) 125 And for thy bed tak now ane bunche of stro [rhyme-words tho, ago].
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiiiv Horses..must haue..strawe for lytter.
1549 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 43 For Strawe to Stuff the baggs, iiijd.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xxxv. 19 Lyk dust and stro [rhyme-word no] Bene vaneist wt the wind.
1579 in 3rd Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1872) 402/2 Yeirlie ane wedder, ane creill full of peittis and ane sled full of stray.
1593 Extracts Munic. Acc. Newcastle (1848) 31 Paide for stro, candle, drinke, and stringe, which bounde the semynaries armes before he was executed, 9d.
1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 23 in Justa Edouardo King Their lean and flashie songs Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.
1657 J. Lamont Diary (1830) 100 None should be obleidged to bring any oatts to the English troupe horses any longer, but only stra hireafter.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 173/2 Blend Fodder, is Hay and Straw mixed.
1754 E. Burt Lett. N. Scotl. II. xxiii. 233 He dy'd at Hame, lik an auld Dug, on a Puckle o' Strae.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 221 The straw of rye is much more valuable, both for thatching, bedding and fodder than the straw of wheat.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. x. 299 Paolo soon after turned into his bed of straw.
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 45 The straw of summer wheat is more agreeable to cattle than that produced from winter sowing.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xix. 163 She had the street laid knee-deep with straw; and the knocker put by.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 417 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV It [sc. wheat] stooled out much more than either, and was uniform in ripeness and length of straw.
1875 W. Paterson Notes Military Surv. (ed. 3) 80 Load of straw = 36 trusses each of 36 lbs.
b. figurative with reference to the small value of straw in comparison with the grain, or to its ready inflammability.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > little worth
strawc1386
c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 603 Me list nat of the chaf or of the stree Maken so long a tale as of the corn.
c1400 Rom. Rose 6354 I..go thurgh alle regiouns, Seking alle religiouns. But to what ordre that I am sworn, I take the strawe, and lete the corn.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 52 Strongest oathes, are straw To th' fire ith' blood. View more context for this quotation
c. Thatch, thatched houses. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house of specific material or construction
thatch-house1521
slate house1554
thack housec1600
frame house1627
log-house1662
straw1665
thatch1693
tin-house1798
fog house1799
leaf house1811
rock house1818
black house1819
blockhouse1821
white house1824
slab-and-bark house1826
brown house1845
brush house1854
soddy1877
hurdle-housea1879
bottle house1913
stucco1922
prefab1942
Portal house1944
Airey1945
yali1962
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 27 A small Village of Straw unworthy the notice.
d. The colour of straw, a pale brownish-yellow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > pale yellow
gullnessa1300
butter colour1629
wheat-colour1711
straw colour1737
jonquil1791
straw-yellow1794
straw1799
wax-yellow1805
sulphur-yellow1816
wax-colour1854
daffodil1855
sulphur-colour1866
sherry colour1871
tea rose1872
mastic1890
wheat1915
sulphur1924
straw-gold1963
buttermilk1977
1799 Courier 15 May 3/2 Mr. Davis, slate-colour and straw.
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 104. 231/2 Silk Mitts..in the following colors:..sky blue, lemon, straw, cardinal.
1923 Daily Mail 19 Feb. 5 A full range of new colourings, including Peach, Lemon, Straw, Rose.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 15 A heavy, oily liquid, from straw to black in colour.
1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden xi. 111 Red was defiance, gold avarice, straw plenty. Green was hope, but sea-green was inconstancy.
2. Phrases.
a. to make bricks without straw: said with allusion to Exodus v.The current form and application of the saying are hardly justified by the narrative. The Israelites were not required to make bricks without straw (which was an indispensable binding material for sun-dried bricks), but to gather the straw for themselves instead of having it furnished to them. The phrase, however, now commonly means ‘(to be required) to produce results without the means usually considered necessary’. Cf. the accurate use in quot. 1661.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > practical impossibility > achieve the impossible [verb (intransitive)]
to make bricks without straw1658
1658 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 79 It is an hard task to make bricks without straw.
1661 Dk. Ormonde in 11th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1887) App. v. 10 If they will not let that [act] passe..and yet will have us keepe armys, is it not requireing a tale of bricks, without allowing the straw.
1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 1st Ser. 271 It is often good for us to have to make bricks without straw.
1883 M. B. Betham-Edwards Disarmed I. i. 5 The fact is, you are fast being spoiled. But your task from to-day will be to make bricks without straw. No appeal shall induce me to have pity on you.
b. in the straw: in childbed, lying-in. So out of the straw, recovered after childbearing.In quot. 1786 the phrase is taken to refer to the practice of laying down straw (to deaden noise) before a house where there is a confinement. It is doubtful whether this was the original meaning, though the practice was common.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective]
childbed1494
in the strawa1661
lying-in1711
sick1828
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adverb] > recovered after birth
out of the straw1772
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Linc. 149 Our English plain Proverb, De Puerperis, they are in the Straw; shows Feather-Beds to be of no ancient use amongst the Common sort of our Nation.
1705 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus I. iv. 18 We sipp'd our Fuddle, As Women in the Straw do Caudle.
1772 Grimston Papers (MS.) I hope your neighbour, Mrs. G., is safe out of the straw, and the child well.
1786 J. Burgoyne Heiress i. i. 12 You take care to send [sc. cards] to all the lying-in ladies? Prompt. At their doors, Madam, before the first load of straw... Prompt. (Reading his memorandum as he goes out). Ladies in the straw—Ministers, &c...never had a better list [etc.].
1822 T. De Quincey Confessions Eng. Opium-eater 119 In the phrase of ladies in the straw, ‘as well as can be expected’.
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster I. xv. 218 They found the lady in the straw.
c. in the straw: (of corn) not yet threshed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > [adjective] > threshed > not
unthrashen1482
unthrashed1561
unbarrowed1569
unberried1570
in the straw1701
1701 C. Wooley Two Years Jrnl. N.-Y. 91 I paid for two load of Oats in the straw 18 shillings.
1702 Act 1 Anne Stat. ii. c. 10 §14 All Carts with..Corn in the Straw.
d. to run to straw: see to run to —— 6 at run v. Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [verb (intransitive)] > grow or produce parts (of plants)
grain1390
ear1442
spindle1577
to run to straw1660
tassel out1757
spean1829
spane1843
silk1878
1660 J. Gauden Κακουργοι 89 Physitians that are not by much study..run out to Atheism (as some corn in lusty ground doth to straw and halm).
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 13 You will find, that in such a case the corn will run out to a straw.
1765 Museum Rusticum 3 157 If they are sown late,..they will be apt to run all to straw.
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. xii. 215 It..would make corn run entirely to straw.
e. man of straw: (a) a person or thing compared to a straw image; a counterfeit, sham, ‘dummy’; similarly, a face of straw, etc.; (b) an imaginary adversary, or an invented adverse argument, adduced in order to be triumphantly confuted; (c) a person of no substance, esp. one who undertakes a pecuniary responsibility without having the means of discharging it; (d) a fictitious or irresponsible person fraudulently put forward as a surety or as a party in an action.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > [noun] > something false or forged
falsehood1340
counterfeiture1548
forgery1574
bastard1581
man of straw1599
counterfeit1613
imitationa1616
mock1646
pasteboard1648
sophistication1664
imposture1699
fraud1725
sham1728
adulteration1756
falsity1780
duff1781
shim-sham1797
shammy1822
Hodge-razor1843
pinchbeck1847
shice1859
cook-up1865
postiche1876
fakery1880
fake1883
bogosity1893
spuriosity1894
dud1897
cluck1904
rake-up1957
bodgie1988
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > debate, disputation, argument > putting forward for discussion > [noun] > arguments for or against > argument against > instance of
con1590
man of straw1599
antistrophon1611
why-not1611
againsta1817
counter-argument1862
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > [noun] > failure to meet obligations > one who
deficient1697
lame duck1761
defaulter1808
man of straw1823
waddler1831
shicer1896
skip1915
shyster1938
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > action of courts in claims or grievances > party in litigation > [noun] > fictitious person put forward as party
man of straw1885
1599 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnassus i. i. 231 [He] braggs..of his liberalitie to schollers..: but indeed he is a meere man of strawe, a great lumpe of drousie earth.
1615 S. Daniel Hymens Triumph ii. i, in Wks. (1623) 283 Idolatrize not so that Sexe, but hold A man of strawe more then a wife of gold [= Fr. proverb: ‘Un homme de paille vaut une femme d'or’].
1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 92 To skirmish with a man of straw of his owne making.
1652 R. Saunders Balm 82 He..strikes at randome at a man of straw.
1675 W. Wycherley Country-wife iv. 67 I will not be your drudge by day, to squire your wife about, and be your man of straw, or scare-crow only to Pyes and Jays; that would be nibling at your forbidden fruit.
1677 2nd Pacquet Advices to Men of Shaftesbury 52 I rather suppose the Some that say so never were men of God's making, but mere men of straw set up by Master Bencher, for a Tryal of his own Skill in Confutation.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. 508 The Verity of all such Suppositions denied, off drops the Vizor, and a Face of Straw appears.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. ii. 323 What is this but placing the essence of virtue in her outside, making her a man of straw, an empty covering containing nothing within?
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 167Man of straw’, a bill-acceptor, without property—‘no assets’.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xxi. 221 If the defendant be a man of straw, who is to pay the costs, Sir?
1840 T. De Quincey Style: No. II in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 395/1 It is always Socrates and Crito, or Socrates and Phædrus..in fact, Socrates and some man of straw or good-humoured nine-pin set up to be bowled down as a matter of course.
1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. ii. 67 But no man can dispense with the aid of a living antagonist, free from all suspicion of being a man of straw.
1885 Law Times' Rep. 53 484/1 The real plaintiff may assign his interest to a man of straw, and in such a case the court will require security to be given.
f. a pad in the straw: see pad n.1 2. Obsolete.
g. Military. for straw: (see quots.). Obsolete. rare. [A rendering of French à la paille, from the phrase aller à la paille, ‘to go in search of straw for the horses’, hence ‘to be allowed a short interval of rest from carrying arms’.]
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > orders > order [interjection] > rest or stand easy
for straw1702
stand easy1859
stand easy1859
1702 Mil. Dict. (1704) (at cited word) For Straw, is a word of command to dismiss the Soldiers when they have grounded their Arms, so that they be ready to return to them upon the first firing of a Musket, or beat of Drum. [Hence 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey); and many later Dicts.]
h. to condemn to straw: to declare worthy of a madhouse. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > drive mad [verb (transitive)] > declare mad
stultify1766
to condemn to straw1779
1779 S. Johnson Dryden in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets III. 180 Virgil would have been too hasty, if he had condemned him [sc. Statius] to straw for one sounding line.
3.
a. Extended to denote the stalks of certain other plants, chiefly pease and buckwheat. poppy straw: see poppy straw n. at poppy n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > cereal plants or corn > stalk, stem, or part of stem > of pease, buckwheat, etc.
strawc1325
c1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 156 Pernet dount de pessas [gloss] pese stree.
1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. 256 Gloss. Vetchie, of Pease strawe.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 126 These Bottles are covered with the Straw of Canes.
1760 R. Brown Compl. Farmer: Pt. 2 83 The straw [of buckwheat] is good fodder for cattle.
1795 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Essex 178 To discontinue the practice of burning the straw of coleseed, mustard, coriander, carraway.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 628 The haulm or straw of the potatoe.
1892 Gardeners' Chron. 27 Aug. 237/2 Messrs. Carter should have preferred it if the straw [of a pea] had not been so long.
b. U.S. Pine needles.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > needle or needles
needle1798
pine-straw1832
pine tag1835
pine needle1844
straw1856
spine1859
fir-brush1879
fir-needle1883
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 321 The leaves, or straw, as its foliage [i.e. that of the yellow pine] is called here.
1860 W. Whitman Amer. Feuillage 36 The ground in all directions is cover'd with pine straw.
c. In plant-names, as camel's straw, sea straw.
ΚΠ
1526 Grete Herball ccclxxxvi. sig. X.iiiv Squinant is an herbe that is called camelles strawe, bycause camelles do eate it.
?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii X. Table 91 Sussex Sea-straw.
4. The straw of wheat or other cereal plants plaited or woven to form a material for hats and bonnets; a kind or variety of this material, or an imitation of it (made, e.g., from paper).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > plait or braid made of straw > collectively
straw1730
1730 E. Thomas Metamorphosis of Town 21 Straw, lin'd with Green, their May-day Hats.
1783 J. O'Keeffe Birth-day 17 With her stockings green, and her hat of straw.
1859 Ladies' Cabinet Nov. 278/1 Plain Dunstable straws continue to be worn.
1895 Daily News 20 Mar. 7/1 Paper straws are among the new things... Hats and bonnets made of these straws are inexpensive.
1902 Daily Chron. 1 Feb. 8/3 The newest straw resembles the petals of a flower, and is called chrysanthemum straw; also there is more lace straw going to be worn than last year.
II. A single stem of a cereal, etc.
5.
a. A stem of any cereal plant, esp. when dry and separated from the grain; also, a piece of such a stem.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > cereal plants or corn > stalk, stem, or part of stem
strawc1200
rissomc1450
shot-blade1629
reeda1722
bunt1775
c1200 Vices & Virtues 135 Ne lat hie [Honestas] nawht ðe hande pleiȝende mid stikke, ne mid strawe.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 218 Þe Quene seide ful soð þe wið an stre tende alhire eastres þet Muche kimeð of lutel.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 1745 In titering, and pursuite, and delayes, The folk devyne at wagginge of a stree.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 1837 Lych hornys of a lytell snayl, Wych..for a lytel strawh wyl shrynke.
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 94 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 302 Clense not thi tethe..With knyfe ne stre, styk ne wande.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. iii. 107 Those that with haste will make a mightie fire, Begin it with weake Strawes . View more context for this quotation
1668 J. Owen Nature Indwelling-sin xvii. 290 No more impression..than blows with a straw would give to an Adamant.
1743 A. Pope Ess. Man (new ed.) ii. 276 Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law, Pleas'd with a rattle, tickled with a straw.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 817 The communication may be maintained by any slight tube, as a straw, or a reed.
1897 E. Howlett in W. Andrews' Legal Lore 92 In some manors the surrender [of lands] is effected by the delivery of a rod, in others of a straw.
in extended use.1587 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnius Herbal for Bible xxvii. 150 Another kinde of Reede..hath a long, round and hollowe stalke or strawe, full of knottie ioints.
b. collective plural = sense 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > cereal plants or corn > stalk, stem, or part of stem > collectively
straw1390
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 143 In stede of mete gras and stres,..He syh.
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 362 With rysshes or with stren me most hem bynde [L. tunc iunco aut ulmo aut uimine stringimus].
?a1600 ( R. Sempill Legend Bischop St. Androis in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlv. 362 Reasing the devill..With..Palme croces, and knottis of strease.
c. poetic. = oat n. 4. rare. (Cf. quot. 1638 at sense 1a.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > wind instrument > pipe > [noun] > made of straw
reeda1387
fistulaa1398
oat reeda1522
quill1567
reed pipe1567
oat-pipe1586
oat1587
straw1598
whistle-stalka1657
oaten1825
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 888 When Shepheards pipe on Oten Strawes . View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 11 Dunce at the best; in Streets but scarce allow'd To tickle, on thy Straw, the stupid Crowd.
d. A straw in the shoe is said to have been the sign by which loafers about the courts of law advertised their readiness to perjure themselves for money. Cf. straw-shoe n. at Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1762 Fielding's Jonathan Wild i. ii, in Wks. II. 240 An eminent gentleman,..who was famous for so friendly a disposition, that he was bail for above a hundred persons in one year. He had likewise the remarkable humour of walking in Westminster-hall with a straw in his shoe.
e. Botany.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > part of
bladec1450
grass root1474
bent1577
chat1601
grasstop1659
knee1678
locusta1707
straw1776
spikelet1793
strap1793
sheath-scale1796
spiket1796
stragule1821
scutellum1832
scobina1839
rachilla1842
chaff-scale1856
coleorhiza1866
hypoblast1882
lemma1906
1776 J. Lee Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) Explan. Terms 378 Culmus, a Straw, properly the Trunk of Grasses.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 80 Straws round, and somewhat flattened.
1821 J. E. Smith Gram. Bot. 6 Culmus, a Culm or Straw, the peculiar stem of Grasses, is leafy, cylindrical [etc.].
1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) i. ii. 84 From the caulis, Linnæus, following the older botanists, distinguished the culmus or straw, which is the stem of Grasses.
f. Mining. (See quot. 1886.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > fuses, etc., used in blasting
smift1839
snoff1860
straw1860
strum1880
squib1881
1860 Eng. & Foreign Mining Gloss. (new ed.) (S. Staffs. Terms) 80 Straw, a fine straw filled with powder and used as a fuse.
1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Sc. Mining Terms 65 Straw, or strae, a fuse composed of a straw filled with gunpowder.
g. A hollow tube (originally of straw or glass, now usually paper or plastic) through which a drink is sucked.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > drinking-straw
straw1851
sucking-tube1875
1851 London at Table iii. 52 Mississippi Punch. Let them use a glass tube or straw to sip the nectar through.
1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) 90 Cobbler,..a drink made of wine, sugar, lemon, and pounded ice, and imbibed through a straw or other tube.
1872 ‘A. Merion’ Odd Echoes Oxf. 21 Come let the mackerel soused be brought,..The cider-cup and straws.
1883 Schele de Vere in Encycl. Amer. I. 201/1 With the various drinks invented by Americans came into use the straws—slender tubes of wheat, or even of glass—through which beverages are sucked up, or, as it is called, imbibed.
1888 J. Ruskin Præterita III. ii. 57 I..saw the Bishop of Oxford taught by Sir Robert Inglis to drink sherry-cobbler through a straw.
1926 ‘O. Douglas’ Proper Place xxxi. 286 She..soon had Alistair supremely happy drinking lemonade through a straw.
1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 4 July 6/1 (advt.) Warm Weather Supplies. Ice Cream Pails. Soda Straws. Lily Drinking Cups.
1953 D. Thomas in Listener 17 Sept. 459/2 They gave him a bottle with a straw.
1967 R. A. Waldron Sense & Sense Devel. vi. 116 A drinking-straw is nowadays usually made of plastic.
1982 H. Engel Ransom Game viii. 45 I settled for a vanilla shake... The straw stood up unaided in..the froth.
h. Used as a means of deciding something by chance (lit. by choosing the shortest (or longest) from among several straws held so as to conceal one end); phr. to draw a straw or straws, to draw a lot or lots.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > make types of choice [verb (intransitive)] > choose or decide by lot
to cast lots (also lot)a1275
to draw lots (also lot)c1425
lot1483
to draw valentines?1553
draw1634
to draw a straw or straws1832
to draw short and long1870
1832 Examiner 614/1 Drawing straws, for guilty or not guilty, were infinitely preferable.
1939 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime i. 13 It was the person on whom life had thrust the..task who must be considered to have drawn the short straw.
1959 R. Bradbury Day it rained Forever 47 Sundays we draw straws for who wears the suit the extra night.
6. A small particle of straw or chaff, a ‘mote’.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > a single straw or particle of straw
strawc950
fescue1377
mote1550
haulm1552
feasetraw1595
straw-mote1747
Mott1963
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt., Introd. 17 Lytles strees vel micles beames.
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. vii. 3 Huæt ðonne gesiistu stre vel mot in ego broðres ðines.
c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 405/33 Fistucam, strewu, eglan.
c1400 Rule St. Benet ii. 5 In þi broþir ehe þu ses a stra, And noht a balke in þin aȝen.
c1407 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 6084 Awmber..ryght myghty in werkyng..For to drawe to him strawys.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xvi Take good hede that the sherers of all maner of white corne cast nat vp theyr handes hastely for than all the..strawes..flyeth ouer his heed.
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 99 Amber will draw unto it any manner of strawes except of the hearb Basill.
1750 tr. C. Leonardus Mirror of Stones 108 Being heated with rubbing, gagates attracts straws and chaff.
7.
a. Often used as a type of what is of trifling value or importance, as in not to care a straw (two, three straws), and similar phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little worth
ivy-leafc1000
needle?c1225
sloec1250
peasea1275
strawc1290
bean1297
nutc1300
buttonc1330
leekc1330
trifle1375
cress1377
goose-wing1377
sop1377
niflec1395
vetcha1400
a pin's head (also point)c1450
trump1513
plack1530
toy1530
blue point1532
grey groat1546
cherry-stone1607
jiggalorum1613
candle-enda1625
peppercorn1638
sponge1671
sneeshing1686
snottera1689
catchpenny1705
potato1757
snuff1809
pinhead1828
traneen1837
a hill of beans1863
gubbins1918
the mind > emotion > indifference > [verb (intransitive)]
to put in no chaloir1477
not to care1490
to let the world wag (as it will)c1525
not to care a chip1556
to hang loose (to)1591
(to bid, care, give) a fig, or fig's end for1632
not to careor matter a farthing1647
not to care a doit1660
(not) to care twopencea1744
not to give a curse (also damn)1763
not to care a dump1821
not to care beans1833
not to care a darn1840
not to give a darn1840
not to care a straw (two, three straws)1861
not to care (also give) a whoop1867
(to care) not a fouter1871
not to care (or give) a toss1876
not to give (also care) a fuck1879
je m'en fiche1889
not to care a dit(e)1907
je m'en fous1918
not to give a shit1918
to pay no nevermind1946
not to give a sod1949
not to give (also care) a monkey's (fuck)1960
not to give a stuff1974
c1290 St. Michael 151 in S. Eng. Leg. 304 Nis nouþe no man aliue þat hire couþe habbe i-wust so wel, Ne so hire i-fed and hire child þat ne costnede nouȝt a stravȝ.
a1300 Havelok 315 He let his oth al ouer-ga, Þerof ne yaf he nouth a stra.
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 718 Socrates..ne counted nat thre strees Of noght that fortune koude doo.
c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 2655 By his sar set he noght a stra.
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1670 Swiche vsage is Not worþ a strawe.
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) iv. liii. 201 Deth, j drede þee nouht a straw.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. xiv. 22 Thou fers fo, Thy fervent words compt I nocht a stro.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. H1 I force not argument a straw, Since that my case is past the helpe of law. View more context for this quotation
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables xxix. 29 'Tis not a Straw matter whether the Main Cause be Right or Wrong.
1780 Mirror No. 103 An explanation, besides exposing me to their resentment (but that I did not value a straw), would have [etc.].
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. iii. 46 Drysdale, who didn't care three straws about knowing St. Cloud.
1887 Spectator 1 Oct. 1304 The British Government..does not care one straw what religion its subjects profess.
b. a straw for —: an expression of contempt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > contempt or disesteem [phrase] > expressions of contempt
a straw forc1374
to blow the buck's hornc1405
to go whistle1453
fig's enda1616
to do the other thing1628
indeed1834
(in a) pig's eye (also ear, arse)1847
drop dead1934
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 362 A strawe for alle swevenes signifiaunce!
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 622 But straw vnto hir reed! wolde I [etc.].
c1460 Play Sacram. 205 Yea yea master a strawe for talis that manot sale.
?1499 J. Skelton Bowge of Courte (de Worde) sig. Bijv Naye strawe for tales thou shalte not rule vs.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid i. Prol. 33 Stra for thys ignorant blabring imperfyte Beside thi polyte termis redemyte.
1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Ajv In whiche poinct, a strawe for all these cankerd philosophers, and sages, who saie [etc.].
1550 J. Heywood Hundred Epigrammes xciv. sig. Cviv Back, quoth the wodcock: Straw for thee, quoth the dawe.
1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Andria iv. ii, in Terence in Eng. 75 A straw for such as would haue us two at debate.
c. Used as an exclamation, = rubbish! nonsense! Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > nonsense! [interjection]
strawc1412
tilly-vallya1529
flam-flirt1590
fiddlestick1600
fiddle-faddle1671
stuff1701
snuff1725
fudge1766
fiddlededeea1784
rats1816
havers1825
humbug1825
gammon1827
rubbish1839
pickles1846
rot1846
skittle1864
slush1869
flapdoodle1878
quatsch1907
phooey1908
tommyrot1931
balls1938
no shit1939
bollocks1940
phonus-bolonus1955
hockey1961
leave it out!1969
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1874 Ye straw! let be!
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 5191 Straw! be he neuer so harrageous, If he & she shul dwellen in on house, Goode is he suffre.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Biiiv Tushe a strawe.
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 535 A strawe, sayde Bele, stande vtter, For we haue egges and butter.
a1529 J. Skelton Manerly Margery in Poet. Wks. (1843) I. 28 Tully valy, strawe, let be, I say!
d. A trifle; a frivolous ground of quarrel, a trifling difficulty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial
gnatc1000
ball play?c1225
smalla1250
triflec1290
fly1297
child's gamec1380
motec1390
mitec1400
child's playc1405
trufferyc1429
toyc1450
curiosity1474
fly-winga1500
neither mass nor matins1528
boys' play1538
nugament1543
knack?1544
fable1552
nincety-fincety1566
mouse1584
molehill1590
coot1594
scoff1594
nidgery1611
pin matter1611
triviality1611
minuity1612
feathera1616
fillip1621
rattle1622
fiddlesticka1625
apex1625
rush candle1628
punctilio1631
rushlight1635
notchet1637
peppercorn1638
petty John1640
emptiness1646
fool-fangle1647
nonny-no1652
crepundian1655
fly-biting1659
pushpin1660
whinny-whanny1673
whiffle1680
straw1692
two and a plack1692
fiddle1695
trivial1715
barley-strawa1721
nothingism1742
curse1763
nihility1765
minutia1782
bee's knee1797
minutiae1797
niff-naff1808
playwork1824
floccinaucity1829
trivialism1830
chicken feed1834
nonsensical1842
meemaw1862
infinitesimality1867
pinfall1868
fidfad1875
flummadiddle1882
quantité négligeable1885
quotidian1902
pipsqueak1905
hickey1909
piddle1910
cream puff1920
squat1934
administrivia1937
chickenshit1938
cream puff1938
diddly-squat1963
non-issue1965
Tinkertoy1972
society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > cause of quarrel > frivolous
straw1692
1692 J. Wilson Vindiciæ Carolinæ i. 17 Here also he quarrels at Straws.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. vi. viii. 297 My passions will not, just now, be irritated by straws.
1828 T. Carlyle Burns in Edinb. Rev. Dec. 292 Mighty events turn on a straw.
1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne III. iii. 36 When he spoke of the difficulties in his way, she twitted him by being overcome by straws.
8. In certain proverbs, and allusive senses derived from them. (See quots.) See also last straw n. at last adv., adj., and n.4 Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > [phrase] > other phrases or sayings
there is no smoke without firec1422
straw1835
the style is the man1901
a.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. i. 12 A drowning man will catch at a straw, the Proverb well says.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward III. xii. 305 Love, like despair, catches at straws.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth III. vi. 195 That hope was the one straw that Mr. Bradshaw clung to.
1908 R. Bagot Anthony Cuthbert xxv. 331 He had been compelled, however, to suppress both his shame and his pride, and grasp at the straw held out to him.
b.1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) ii. 13 As the last straw breaks the laden camel's back, this piece of underground information crushed the sinking spirits of Mr. Dombey.c.1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 31 Take a straw and throw it up into the Air, you shall see by that which way the Wind is.1799 Porcupine's Gaz. 6 Mar. 3/2Straws’ (to make use of Callender's old hackneyed proverb) ‘Straws serve to show which way the wind blows.’1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV viii. 119 You know, or don't know, that great Bacon saith ‘Fling up a straw, 'twill show the way the wind blows.’1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. ii. iii. 224 The Provençal, who well knew how to construe the wind by the direction of straws.1846 Fraser's Mag. XXXIII. 131 This straw shews the peculiar superstitiousness of Johnson's mind.1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University (ed. 2) 365 One of the smallest possible straws may be taken as an indication of the direction in which the aura popularis now set.1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth lvi And such straws of speech show how blows the wind.1915 Daily News 28 Dec. 4 Occasional tavern brawls between German and Bulgarian officers are no doubt only straws, but the lesson they point is reinforced by [etc.].1927 A. Adams Ranch on Beaver vii. 99 ‘As straws tell which way the wind blows,’ remarked Sargent, ‘this day's work gives us a clean line on these company cattle.’1939 C. H. Madge & T. Harrisson Brit. by Mass-observ. ii. 107 Yet through agents in the constituencies, and straws in the wind like West Leicester, came a slightly better indication of popular sentiment.1960 C. P. Snow Affair xxv. 334 There have been other things, straws in the wind, maybe, which give reason to think that contemporary standards among a new scientific generation are in a process of decline.1975 Lang. for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xii. 189 These are straws in the wind. What they indicate is the degree to which learning and the acquisition of language are interlocked.1983 Listener 27 Jan. 3/1 As MPs have already pointed out in the debate, Captain Nick Barker of HMS Endurance had detected straws in the wind.
9. In various phrases.
a. to turn every straw, leave no straw unturned: to search everywhere for something lost.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)] > search exhaustively
to turn every straw?c1225
to rake (out) hell1542
leave no straw unturned1575
to leave no stone unturned1670
trawl1980
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 241 Secheð hit anan richt & towent uch strea oðet hit beo ifunden.
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle i. iv. sig. Aiiii So see in all the heape of dust, thou leaue no straw vnturned.
b. to lay a straw: to stop, desist. there a straw! = here I will stop. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease activity [verb (intransitive)]
i-swikec893
swikec897
atwindc1000
linOE
studegieOE
stintc1175
letc1200
stuttea1225
leavec1225
astint1250
doc1300
finec1300
blina1325
cease1330
stable1377
resta1382
ho1390
to say or cry ho1390
resta1398
astartc1400
discontinuec1425
surcease1428
to let offc1450
resista1475
finish1490
to lay a straw?a1505
to give over1526
succease1551
to put (also pack) up one's pipes1556
end1557
to stay (one's own or another's) hand1560
stick1574
stay1576
to draw bridle1577
to draw rein1577
to set down one's rest1589
overgive1592
absist1614
subsista1639
beholdc1650
unbridle1653
to knock offa1657
acquiesce1659
to set (up) one's rest1663
sista1676
stop1689
to draw rein1725
subside1734
remit1765
to let up1787
to wind (up) one's pirna1835
to cry crack1888
to shut off1896
to pack in1906
to close down1921
to pack up1925
to sign off1929
the world > action or operation > ceasing > here I will stop [phrase]
there a straw!?a1505
a1505 R. Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 241 in Poems (1981) 140 Off sik musik to wryte I do bot dote, Thar-for at this mater a stra I lay.
c1555 Manifest Detection Diceplay sig. Bii Well, as to that, there lay a strawe tyll anone, that the matter lede vs to speake more of it.
1568 V. Skinner tr. R. González de Montes Discouery Inquisition of Spayne f. 63 There they were enforced to lay a straw.
1580 G. Harvey Three Proper Lett. iii. 49 You may communicate as much..as you list,..with the two Gentlemen: but there a straw, and you loue me: not with any one else, friend or foe.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. ix. xxxvi. 258 If I should lay a straw here, and proceed no further in this discourse of Purples.
1639 Deloney's Gentile Craft: 2nd Pt. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. sig. Civv Nay soft, there lay a straw for feare of stumbling quoth Robin.
c. to break a straw [= French rompre la paille] : to quarrel. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > quarrel [verb (intransitive)]
threapc1175
disputea1225
thretec1400
varyc1450
fray1465
to fall out1470
to set (or fall) at variancec1522
quarrel1530
square1530
to break a straw1542
to be or to fall at (a) square1545
to fall at jar1552
cowl1556
tuilyie1565
jarl1580
snarl1597
to fall foul1600
to cast out1730
fisticuff1833
spat1848
cagmag1882
rag1889
to part brass-rags1898
hassle1949
blue1955
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 61v I prophecie..that Plato and Dionysius wil ere many dayes to an ende breake a straw betwene theim.
d. to draw (also gather, pick) straws: (of the eyes) to be sleepy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > drowsiness > be or become drowsy [verb (intransitive)] > of eyes
to draw (also gather, pick) straws1672
1672 J. Phillips Maronides v. 131 When the Sun awakes the Daw's, Hobgoblins eyes always draw straws.
1691 A. D'Anvers Academia 36 Their Eyes, by this time all drew Straws.
1694 Gentleman's Jrnl. Apr. 84 It growing then towards eleven a clock, the City Ladies Eyes began to draw Straws.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 214 I'm sure 'tis time for honest Folks to be a-bed..Indeed my Eyes draws Straw.
1796 J. Wolcot Orson & Ellen v. 125 Their eyelids did not once pick straws.
1825 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xix, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 383 But would you believe it, my beloved Shepherd, my eyes are gathering straws.
1892 Illustr. Sporting & Dramatic News 5 Nov. 270/2 ‘That period—probably two o'clock a.m.—when the eyes of chaperons begin to draw straws’.
1942 B. Field Bride of Glory ii. xxiii. 868 ‘My dear, your eyes draw straws; ye should go to bed.’ ‘I think I must, as I can't keep awake though I've been pinching myself this great while.’
e. to have straws in one's hair (and variants): to be insane, eccentric, or distracted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > be or become mad [verb (intransitive)]
dwelec900
wedec900
awedeeOE
starea1275
braidc1275
ravea1325
to be out of mindc1325
woodc1374
to lose one's mindc1380
madc1384
forgetc1385
to go out of one's minda1398
to wede (out) of, but wita1400
foolc1400
to go (also fall, run) mada1450
forcene1490
ragec1515
waltc1540
maddle?c1550
to go (also run, set) a-madding (or on madding)1565
pass of wita1616
to have a gad-bee in one's brain1682
madden1704
to go (also be) off at the nail1721
distract1768
craze1818
to get a rat1890
to need (to have) one's head examined (also checked, read)1896
(to have) bats in the belfryc1901
to have straws in one's hair1923
to take the bats1927
to go haywire1929
to go mental1930
to go troppo1941
to come apart1954
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (intransitive)] > be slightly mad > eccentric or cranky
bees in the head or the brains1553
fanaticize1715
to get a rat1890
(to have) bats in the belfryc1901
to have straws in one's hair1923
to take the bats1927
1890 ‘L. Carroll’ Nursery ‘Alice’ x. 39 That's the March Hare, with the long ears, and straws mixed up with his hair. The straws showed he was mad—I don't know why. Never twist up straws among your hair, for fear people should think you're mad!]
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves vii. 72 When your uncle the Duke begins to feel the strain a bit and you find him in the blue drawing-room sticking straws in his hair, old Glossop is the first person you send for.
1925 P. G. Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves vi. 142 His [sc. a psychiatrist's] outlook on life has become so jaundiced through constant association with coves who are picking straws out of their hair.
1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon xviii. 346 (heading) Straws in the hair.
1962 ‘S. Woods’ Bloody Instr. ix. 100 Dennis Dowling..brought with him an atmosphere of mingled drama and insanity. Antony thought: ‘definitely straws in the hair’ as soon as he opened the door.
10. Applied to various things shaped like a straw.
a. plural = jack-straws, jackstraw n. 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games played with straws or sticks > [noun]
spillikins1734
straw1765
jackstraws1795
long-straws1835
pick-up-sticks1936
1765 H. Walpole Let. to C'tess Suffolk 9 July They (I mean my bones) lie in a heap over one another like the bits of ivory at the game of straws.
b. Australian. A walking-stick insect, a phasmid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > member of
walking leaf1718
wandering1798
straw1827
1827 H. Hellyer in J. Bischoff Van Diemen's Land (1832) 177 I caught one of those curious insects the native straw; it is, I apprehend, a nondescript.
c. A long slender needle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > sewing > equipment for > needle > types of
pack-needle1327
packing needle1597
Whitechapel needle1737
quadrille1818
blunt1833
sharps1834
darning-needle1848
between1849
ground-down1862
straw1862
darner1882
wool-needle1882
stocking needle1886
swing needle1954
1862 M. T. Morrall Hist. Needle-making 39 The Straws are suited for millinery and light work, and they are often made double length, for sewing fents in Manchester.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 464 Straws..are needles of a particular description, used in hat and bonnet making.
d. A slender kind of clay pipe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > pipe > clay-pipe > slender
straw1882
1882 Worcs. Exhib. Catal. iii. 28 Tobacco pipes. 10-inch Straws.
e. cheese straw: a thin stick of pastry, containing cheese. potato straw: see potato straw n. at potato n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 119.
1892 T. F. Garrett & W. A. Rawson Encycl. Pract. Cookery I. 350.
f. A plastic phial in which bull semen is stored for artificial insemination.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > apparatus > [noun] > for storing or containing
boat1847
collecting box1857
moist chamber1869
Pasteur flask1869
plate1886
Petri dish1892
Pasteur pipette1899
Stender dish1900
straw1966
tissue-bank1968
1966 Canad. Jrnl. Compar. Med. & Vet. Sci. 30 109 The use of plastic straws would..encourage volume storage of high quality semen from young sires.
1966 Canad. Jrnl. Compar. Med. & Vet. Sci. 30 111/1 Better fertility results can be anticipated with straw packaged semen as compared with that packaged in glass ampoules.
1982 Sunday Times 12 Sept. 45/2 The firm..specialises in artificial insemination..in cattle, and expects Pickles [sc. a bull] eventually to produce 40,000 ‘straws’, or phials, of semen a year. These straws will be frozen, and sold to cattle breeders all over the world at about £50 a time.
III. Something made of straw.
11. A straw hat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > straw
straw hat1453
ruskie1825
straw1829
basher1901
straw basher1901
1829 P. Egan Boxiana New Ser. II. 681 Hall..went briskly into the ring, and tossed up his Dunstable straw.
1849 Theatr. Programme No. 5. 45/2 (advt.) Charles Vyse, manufacturer of Leghorns and Straws to the British and Foreign Courts.—30 Ludgate-street.
1863 Baily's Monthly Mag. Jan. 357 I hung my saturated ‘straw’ upon a bush.
1902 R. Hichens Londoners 159 I've only brought a straw.
IV. Something resembling straw in colour.
12. In book-names of certain moths, with reference to their colour (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1775 M. Harris Eng. Lepidoptera 45 Phalæna..310 Straw, clouded.
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 427 Botys cespitalis. The Straw-barred.
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 49 The Straw Underwing..appears about June.
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 116 The Straw Belle.
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 188 The Dingy Straw (Depressaria costosa).
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 193 The Dingy Straw (Recurvaria Silacella).
1869 E. Newman Illustr. Nat. Hist. Brit. Moths 98 The Straw Belle (Aspilates gilvaria).
1869 E. Newman Illustr. Nat. Hist. Brit. Moths 295 The Straw Under-wing (Cerigo Cytherea).

Compounds

C1. attributive, passing into adj., with sense ‘made of straw’. See also straw hat n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [adjective] > made of straw
straw1442
strawen1459
strawish1562
strawy1568
sheaved1609
1442 R. Cottingham Will in H. A. Lee-Dillon Fairholt's Costume in Eng. (ed. 3) II. (Gloss.) s.v. A blak stra cappe.
1577 R. Willes & R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Hist. Trauayle W. & E. Indies f. 254v Theyr houses are..layde all ouer with straw pallettes, wherevppon they doe both sit in steede of stooles, and lye in theyr clothes, with billets vnder theyr heades.
1624 Fairfax Inventory in Archaeologia (1884) 48 148 A strowbasket.
1679 M. Rusden Further Discov. Bees 2 The keeping of Bees in Box-hives, I call by the name of Colonies, to distinguish them from those kept only in Straw-hives.
1699 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense (ed. 9) 134 Cover also your most delicate Stone-fruit and Murals, skreening them with Straw-hurdles.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 257 Cover the Earth with good Straw-Mats.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxii. 188 A straw bonnet with a pink ribbon.
1871 J. R. Macduff Memories of Patmos vii. 87 Hovering around the straw-pallet of some Lazarus-beggar.
C2. Obvious combinations:
a. Simple attributive, with the sense ‘of or pertaining to straw or straws’, as in straw-end, straw-fire, straw-market, straw-mow, straw-pad, straw pulp, straw-rick, straw-stack; designating a receptacle for straw, as straw-barn, straw-barton, straw-house, straw-loft, straw rack.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [adjective] > made of straw > of or relating to straw
strawy1552
straw1557
stramineous1624
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > [noun] > pulp
pulp1727
stuff1745
paper pulp1839
wood-pulp1876
ground wood1885
mechanical wood pulp1887
straw pulp1888
soda pulp1893
sulphate pulp1907
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. B.ii But serue them with haye, while thy straw stoouer last: they loue no more strawe, they had rather to fast.
a1618 J. Sylvester tr. Battail of Yvry in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) 1099 When his Fury glowes, 'Tis but as Straw-fire.
1657 N. Billingsley Brachy-martyrologia ii. vii. 196 How like you (John) your lodging and your fare? Willis said, Well, had I a straw-pad here.
1662 A. Cooper Στρατολογια vi. 52 A timerous Footman..In a Straw-mough had hid himself for fear.
1677 G. Miege New Dict. French & Eng. ii. sig. Aaa 4v/2 A Straw-house, paillier, le lieu où l'on tient la paille.
1721 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (ed. 5) I. 143 What Corn you stack must be bound up in Sheaves, that so the Ears of the Corn may be turned inward, and the Straw-ends out.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 213 Nor did he think it more dangerous than other grass, unless cattle came hungry to it out of the straw-barton.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 215 They..were foddered in the straw-house.
a1747 E. Holdsworth Remarks & Diss. Virgil (1768) 323 A street..formerly called La Rue de Fourrage: where the straw-market was kept.
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. i. 15 The straw-barn..should be so large as to pile up the straw of two stacks when threshed.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §1142 Straw-racks are placed in the sheds.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. iv. iii. 246 They lie in straw-lofts, in woody brakes.
1886 W. J. Tucker Life E. Europe 187 Strawstacks, and haystacks, and maizestacks.
1888 C. F. Cross & E. J. Bevan Text-bk. Paper-making vi. 101 The presse-päte system is largely adopted for straw pulp.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxxii. 144 To inquire how the advanced cows were getting on in the straw-barton.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. xlvii. 130 The old men on the rising straw-rick.
1937 E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 238/2 Straw pulp is prepared by cooking straw with soda.
b. objective, as straw-carrier, straw-clutching, straw-cutter, straw-cutting, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > [noun] > unfounded hope
forlorn hopea1643
wish-thinking1930
wishful thinking1932
a wing and a prayer1943
straw-clutching1962
hope-against-hope1968
1656 J. Collop Poesis Rediviva 64 Th' straw-gatherers of Egypt.
1790 W. Marshall Agric. Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Midland Counties II. 443 Straw-cutter, a cutter of straw, &c. into chaf.
1805 Trans. Soc. Arts 23 51 He purchased a straw-chopper, that the horses corn might be mixed with straw.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. v. ix. 292 After all that straw-burning, fire-pumping, and deluge of musketry.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 196 Straw-cutters are of very various construction.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 196 Straw-cutting machines.
1869 Spons' Dict. Engin. I. 229 The straw-shaker [in a threshing-machine] should pass the straw at the rate of 75 to 80 ft. a-minute.
1884 J. Scott Barn Implements (1885) 145 The ‘Straw-Elevator,’ driven in connection with the threshing-machine.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 23 The straw carrier of the thrashing machine.
1962 L. Davidson Rose of Tibet iii. 65 Every bit of straw-clutching, every bit of hope..was followed instantly by a reaction of dismay.
c. instrumental and parasynthetic, as straw-bottomed, straw-built, straw-crowned, straw-roofed, straw-stuffed, straw-thatched adjs.
ΚΠ
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. iii. i. f. 96/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I In some places it [sc. malt] is dryed with woode alone, or strawe alone..but of all the strawe dryed is the most excellent.
1598 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 3 Last Bks. iv. ii. 14 So rides he mounted on the market-day Vpon a straw-stu'ft pannell, all the way.
1613 A. Standish New Direct. 21 Cottages and such like Straw-thatched houses.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 773 Thir [sc. the bees'] Straw-built Cittadel. View more context for this quotation
1738 P. Whitehead Manners 4 'Midst the mad Mansions of Moor-fields, I'd be A straw-crown'd Monarch, in mock majesty.
1746 J. Warton Ode to Fancy 30 Where never human art appear'd, Nor ev'n one straw-rooft cott was rear'd.
1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas II. iv. xi. 114 We quitted the hermitage, leaving,..two old straw-bottomed chairs.
1751 T. Gray Elegy v. 6 The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed.
1820 J. Keats Cap & Bells xxix Many as bees about a straw-capp'd hive.
1824 T. Campbell Theodric 501 Till reaching home, terrific omen! there The straw-laid street preluded his dispair.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xli. 445 Had he been inspecting a wooden statue, or a straw-embowelled Guy Faux.
1899 W. D. Howells Ragged Lady 286 The tubes of straw-barreled Virginia cigars.
C3. Special combinations. Also straw yard n.
straw bail n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > bailing or bail > [noun] > worthless bail
Jew bail1771
straw bail1853
1853 Notes & Queries 1st Ser. 7 86/1 Straw bail is, I believe, a term still used by attorneys to distinguish insufficient bail from ‘justifiable’ or sufficient bail.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 455 Straw bail, worthless bail; bail given by ‘men of straw’, i.e. persons who pretend to the possession of property, but have none.
straw-bait n. Obsolete = straw-worm n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > division Endopterygota or Metabola (winged) > [noun] > order Trichoptera > family Phryganeidae or genus Phryganea > member of (caddis-fly) > larva of
codwormc1450
casewormc1565
codbait1620
caddis-worm1627
straw-bait1632
caddis1653
cockspur1653
piper1653
ruffcoat1653
straw-worm1653
cadew1668
cad1674
caddis-bait1833
1632 G. Sandys in tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) xv. Notes 520 So Cod-bates, and Straw-bates which ly vnder water [turn] into May-flies.
straw ballot n. = straw vote n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > [noun] > unofficial vote
straw vote1866
straw ballot1932
straw poll1932
1932Straw ballot [see straw poll n.].
1967 Canad. Ann. Rev. 1966 63 RIN..polled 27·7 per cent of the vote in a Université de Montréal straw ballot.
straw basher n. slang a straw hat or boater.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > straw
straw hat1453
ruskie1825
straw1829
basher1901
straw basher1901
1901 Westm. Gaz. 9 Aug. 8/1 They parade in the grounds of the Exhibition with well-cut clothes and straw ‘bashers’.
1931 A. J. Cronin Hatter's Castle ii. xii. 421 A stiff, board-like straw-basher.
straw-bed n. (a) a bed or mattress filled with straw, a paillasse; (b) = straw ride n. (a).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > bedding > [noun] > mattress > filled with straw
pallet1370
palliasse1506
pad1554
pouffe1583
straw-bed1585
pallet bed1620
pallet-couch1815
straw tick1931
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > riding school > track in > laid with straw
straw-bed1856
straw ride1856
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 247/1 Culcita stramentitia,..a straw bed, or pad of straw.
1669 A. Woodhead tr. Life St. Teresa (1671) ii. 263 The Straw-bed, the ordinary Bed of the Discalced.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports ii. i. ix. 352/1 Some [colts] being at once physicked, and exercised afterwards upon straw-beds, &c.
straw bid n. U.S. (see quot. 1889).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > bidding or offering to buy > the bid or offer > worthless bid
straw bid1889
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms Straw bid, a worthless bid; one not intended to be taken up.
Categories »
straw bidder n. U.S.
straw-blond adj. (also straw-blonde) applied to hair of a pale, yellowish blond colour; also absol., this colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > light hair > having
white-headed1571
whitehead1577
fair-haired1598
silver-haired1678
light-haired?1746
blonde-locked1837
tow-headed1850
tow-haired1887
peroxide1899
blondie1905
straw-blond1928
platinum blonde1932
1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude i. 25 Her straw-blond hair, framing her sunburned face, is bobbed.
1973 A. Hunter Gently French v. 47 Her hair was a warm straw blonde.
straw-board n. coarse yellow millboard made from straw pulp, used for making boxes, book-covers, etc.; also, a piece of this material.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > materials made from paper or pulp > [noun] > millboard > types of
straw-board1850
pulp board1899
corrugated strawboard1912
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 305 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI [The] said process is peculiar to the use of strawboard.
1862 Harper's Mag. June 135/1 He was making a personal examination of straw-board shoes provided for those who have gone to be soldiers.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Straw-board.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 409 In the said slots were placed sheets of straw-board of uniform texture and thickness.
1885 G. F. Green in Rattray & Mill Forestry & Forest Products xviii. 474 Wood-pulp boards, straw-boards, and mill-boards are sometimes referred to as ‘paste-boards’.
1956 H. Williamson Methods Bk. Design xix. 321 Millboards are harder and more solid than strawboards.
straw boater n. = boater n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > straw > types of
Dunstable1805
Leghorn1810
skimmer1830
Tuscan hat1830
boating hat1840
mushroom1843
Milan hat1855
toering1855
bergère hat1873
Zulu hat1880
boater1882
boat hat1889
straw yard1900
donkey's breakfast1901
brimmer1902
straw boater1905
balibuntal1913
1905 Daily Chron. 2 June 4/7 In a shop on Ludgate-hill, there are placards announcing ‘straw boaters’.
1965 G. Jones Island of Apples i. v. 47 Because after breakfast, to show big, he went out for a ride on the bike, wearing his new straw boater with the red silk ribbon.
straw bond n. U.S. (see quot. 1889 and cf. straw bail n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal obligation > bond or recognizance > [noun] > worthless
scrap of paper1840
straw bond1889
1889 Cent. Dict. at Bond Straw bond, a bond upon which either fictitious names or the names of persons unable to pay the sum guaranteed are written as names of sureties.
straw boots n. dialect wisps of straw tied round the feet and legs; hence as a nickname for the 7th Dragoon Guards.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and feet > [noun] > other
straw boots1707
bootikin1885
1707 tr. M.-C. d'Aulnoy Diverting Wks. 493 Admiral Sharp-Cap dispatcht away John Prattle-Box, Courier in Ordinary of the Closet, with his Straw-Boot [Fr. botté de paille], to inform the King.
1832 D. Vedder Orcadian Sketches in Poems (1878) 298 His legs were completely enveloped in twisted straw, generally known by the name of ‘strae boots’.
1879 All the Year Round 5 Apr. 370/1 The Seventh [Dragoon Guards] has been known indifferently as the Black Horse,..and as the Virgin Mary's Guard; but its more popular pseudonym is the Straw Boots.
straw boss n. originally U.S. a subordinate or assistant foreman.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > overseer or foreman > assistant or subordinate
straw boss1894
pannikin boss1898
pannikinc1926
1894 W. H. Carwardine Pullman Strike ix. 117 These employees..had been so ground between the upper millstone of ‘low wages’ and the nether millstone of ‘high rents’, the continued oppression of the ‘straw bosses’, [etc.].
1915 S. Lewis Trail of Hawk ii. xiii. 132 He had laughed away the straw boss who tried to make him go ask for a left-handed monkey-wrench.
1945 ‘N. Shute’ Most Secret viii. 172 Them Frenchies won't work right without they have a straw-boss.
1976 L. St. Clair Fortune in Death x. 98 Dimestores, cafeterias, moving to a new job..every time some greasy straw boss ran his hand up my skirt.
strawboy n. Irish English (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > participants in other specific festivities
savage mana1577
Saturnaliana1665
souler1778
wren-boys?a1800
Jack in the green1835
carnivaller1881
orgiophant1886
strawboy1894
carnivalite1896
garlander1939
1894 C. R. Browne in Proc. Royal Irish Acad. 1893–6 (1896) 3 352 Mr. Michael Lavelle..informs me that he has heard that sometimes, on the occasion of a wedding, ‘straw-boys’ go round with long straw masks on, and if they do not get either money or liquor will threaten to break the windows and furniture of the house.
1937 C. M. Arensberg Irish Countryman iii. 106 The ‘strawboys’—privileged masqueraded figures whose mock-dangerous invasion of the wedding feast has been dignified to represent a last remnant of a primeval bride-capture.
1968 A. Gailey in Folk Life VI. 90 In parts of Fermanagh there survive even to the present day traces of an old ceremony performed by groups of..young men, disguised latterly in..straw masks.., but in former times..wearing complete suits of straw. They interrupted the festivities following the solemnisation of marriages in the country districts, and were known simply as the Strawboys.
straw braid n. = straw plait n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > plait or braid made of straw
straw plait1800
straw braid1864
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from other vegetable fibres > [noun] > woven straw
straw braid1864
Milan1895
balibuntal1913
Bangkok1920
paribuntal1926
1864 Harper's Mag. Oct. 578/2 He laid all kinds of evil results at the door of straw braid.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2417/1 The Leghorn, or Italian straw-braid.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 463/2 Straw Braids are made in very long lengths, and are sewn together by means of long thin Needles, called Straws.
straw-bug n. slang a strawberry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > berry > [noun] > strawberry
strawberryc1000
straw-bug1908
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > edible berries > strawberry
strawberryc1000
straw-bug1908
1908 A. Huxley Let. 29 June (1969) 28 Latest News Stop Press Strawbugs for tea.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren ix. 155 These syllables [sc. -bug, -gog, etc.] are used..to replace the second half of a word, as: newbug, rasbug, strawbug, goosegog, and wellygogs.
straw-burn v. Obsolete (transitive) to fertilize (land) by burning straw upon it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > fertilize or manure [verb (transitive)] > treat with other natural fertilizer
marlc1265
chavec1420
chalk?1578
lime1649
soot1707
sand1721
straw-burn1799
sprat1832
loam?1842
guanize1843
guano1847
bone1873
herring1879
1799 A. Young Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 267 He straw-burnt a piece in the middle of a field preparing for turnips.
straw-burning n. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > [noun] > use of other natural fertilizers
marlingc1450
liming1620
chalking1626
sanding1670
shelling1780
straw-burning1799
ashing1842
vermiculture1976
1799 A. Young Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 268 This straw-burning husbandry I found again at Belesby.
straw cat n. the pampas cat ( Cent. Dict. 1891).
ΚΠ
1891 Cent. Dict. VII. Straw cat.
straw-ciré n. (see ciré adj.).
ΚΠ
1928 Daily Express 15 June 5/5 Trimmings of coloured felt flowers on shapes of straw-ciré.
straw coat n. Obsolete a coat trimmed with straw.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > coat > types of > other
russet coatc1425
syon1511
party coat1559
patch-coat?1608
undercoat1648
turncoat1726
wambais1761
straw coat1783
coatlet1795
Wellington coat1809
redingote1823
shad-belly1842
cutaway1849
reliever1850
blouse1861
shooter1870
square-cut1893
stroller1901
Redfern1909
sherwani1911
teddy bear1925
swagger coat1933
swing-coat1935
Crombie1951
tent coat1961
1783 European Mag. & London Rev. Mar. 190/1 Paillasses, or straw-coats, are very much in use.
straw cotton n. (see quot. 1882).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > for other specific purpose
packthread1304
pack-line1447
thrum1466
pack-twine1645
whip1825
basket-twine1833
stocking-yarn1835
draw thread1839
mending1882
straw cotton1882
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 464 Straw Cotton..is a wiry kind of thread, starched and stiff,..exclusively made for use in the manufacture of straw goods.
strae-dead adj. [compare Old Norse strádauða] Scottish quite dead.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective]
deadOE
lifelessOE
of lifeOE
storvena1225
dead as a door-nail1362
ydead1387
stark deadc1390
colda1400
bypast1425
perishedc1440
morta1450
obita1450
unquickc1449
gone?a1475
dead and gone1482
extinct1483
departed1503
bygonea1522
amort1546
soulless1553
breathless1562
parted1562
mortified1592
low-laid1598
disanimate1601
carcasseda1603
defunct1603
no morea1616
with God1617
death-stricken1618
death-strucken1622
expired1631
past itc1635
incinerated1657
stock-dead1662
dead as a herring1664
death-struck1688
as dead as a nit1789
(as) dead as mutton1792
low1808
laid in the locker1815
strae-dead1820
disanimated1833
ghosted1834
under the daisies1842
irresuscitable1843
under the sod1847
toes up1851
dead and buried1863
devitalized1866
translated1869
dead and done (for, with)1886
daid1890
bung1893
(as) dead as the (or a) dodo1904
six feet under1942
brown bread1969
1820 R. Mudie Glenfergus II. xviii. 218 Gin ye dinna haste ye, doakter,..it may be strae dead afore ye come on till 't.
straw-death n. (Sc. strae-death) [compare Norwegian straadaude, Danish straadød] a natural death in one's bed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > manner of death > [noun] > natural death
(to die) a natural deatha1522
straw-death1787
natural causes1834
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xxv, in Poems (new ed.) 63 Whare I kill'd ane, a fair strae-death, By loss o' blood, or want o' breath.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. iv. 145 Dead is he, a bed-death,..A straw-death, a cow's-death.
1868 G. MacDonald Robert Falconer I. xxiii. 305 She's gane, an' no by a fair strae-deith (death on one's own straw) either.
straw deer n. Obsolete an alleged name for the hare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus europaeus (hare)
harea700
wimountc1280
wood-catc1280
babbart?a1300
ballart?a1300
bigge?a1300
goibert?a1300
grasshopper?a1300
lightfoot?a1300
long-ear?a1300
make-fare?a1300
pintail?a1300
pollart?a1300
purblind?a1300
roulekere?a1300
scot?a1300
scotewine?a1300
side-looker?a1300
sitter?a1300
westlooker?a1300
wort-cropper?a1300
break-forwardc1300
broom-catc1300
swikebertc1300
cawel-herta1325
deuberta1325
deudinga1325
fern-sittera1325
fitelfoota1325
foldsittera1325
furze cata1325
scutardea1325
skikarta1325
stobherta1325
straw deera1325
turpina1325
skulker1387
chavarta1400
soillarta1400
waldeneiea1400
scutc1440
coward1486
wata1500
bawtiec1536
puss1575
watkin1585
malkin1706
pussy1715
bawd1785
lion1825
dew-hopper-
a1325 Names of Hare in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 133 The strauder, the lekere.
straw-device n. Obsolete a worthless or harmless device.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > inefficacy > that which is
straw-device1601
herb John1614
cardinal's blessing1702
ineffectuality1838
scrap of paper1840
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love iii. iii. sig. Fv As if I knew not how to entertaine These Straw-deuises.
straw-drain n. a drain filled with straw (Webster 1828–32).
straw-driver n. ? one who practises horses on a straw-ride.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > rider > [noun] > one who practises on straw-ride
straw-driver1828
1828 Sporting Mag. 22 183 Mr. Darvill..commenced life as a straw-driver in a country racing stable.
straw-dry adj. as dry as straw, very dry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > dryness > [adjective] > very
bone?a1300
for-drya1386
bone-dryc1480
siticulous1620
chippy1850
powder-dry1934
straw-dry1951
1951 W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 47 Unlike the plant called ‘everlasting’, this [sc. poetry] Never straw-dry, sapless, or sterile is.
1963 Glamour Nov. 23 Even hair that's straw-dry turns silky.
straw-dynamite n. (see quot. 1889).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > explosive material > [noun] > other specific explosives
powdera1393
gunpowder1411
saltpetre1501
petre1586
halinitre1608
sal-prunella1664
petre-salt1708
xyloidin1838
gun-cotton1846
pyroxyle1847
pyroxylin1847
pyroglycerin1850
xylidine1850
nitroglycerine1852
gun-sawdust1853
picrate1854
trinitroglycerin1864
nitroleum1866
trinitrin1866
dynamite1867
giant-powder1872
dualin1874
fulgurite1874
rendrock1874
glyoxilin1875
lithofracteur1875
trinitro-cellulose1875
white gunpowder1875
gelatin1878
cotton-powder1879
vigorite1879
blasting gelatine1881
Hercules powder1881
saxifragine1881
tonite1881
dynamogen1882
forcite1883
haloxylin1883
jelly powdera1884
nitro-gelatinea1884
panclastite1883
potentite1883
sebastinea1884
kolloxylin1884
hellhoffite1885
rackarock1885
securite1886
kinetite1887
roburite1887
carbo-dynamite1888
fortis1889
gelatine dynamite1889
gelignite1889
seranine1889
straw-dynamite1889
carbonite1890
amberite1891
nitro powder1892
Schnebelite1893
westfalite1894
thorite1899
soup1902
ammonal1903
cheddite1908
trinitrotoluene1908
Samsonite1909
tolite1909
trinitrotoluol1910
trotyl1910
glyceryl trinitrate1912
T.N.T.1915
nitro1916
amatol1918
cyclonite1923
hexogen1923
lox1923
pentaerythritol tetranitrate1923
hexite1931
aurantia1940
jelly1941
RDX1941
1889 J. Cundill Dict. Explosives 61 Straw Dynamite is a mixture of nitro-glycerine with nitro-cellulose made from straw.
straw embroidery n. (see quot. 1882).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > other types of embroidery
cutwork1470
Alexandrinec1500
loose work1548
Irish stitch1560
opus anglicumc1840
opus anglicanum1848
chikan1858
straw embroidery1862
Greek embroidery1882
Hardanger1904
Assisi1923
hedebo1932
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > other types of embroidery
straw embroidery1862
phulkari1872
bullion embroidery1882
Paris embroidery1882
pattern darning1906
needle-weaving1932
Bargello1942
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4432 Straw embroidery.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 464 Straw Embroidery..consists in tacking upon black Brussels silk net or yellow coloured net, leaves, flowers, corn, butterflies, &c. that are stamped out of straw, and connecting these with thick lines made of yellow filoselle.
straw-fiddle n. a xylophone in which the wooden bars are supported on rolls of twisted straw.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > [noun] > xylophone > other xylophone types
ballarda1382
ballards1623
sticcado1776
balafon1797
straw-fiddle1867
mbila1928
gamelan1934
mbira1948
mbira1948
1867 J. Tyndall Sound iv. 137 Instead of using the cord, the bars may rest at their nodes on cylinders of twisted straw; hence the name straw-fiddle sometimes applied to this instrument.
straw-foot n. see hay-foot n.
straw-fork n. a pitchfork.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > fork > pitch-fork
pikeforkc1275
shakefork1338
pickfork1349
pitchfork1364
pikea1398
bicornec1420
hay-fork1552
shed-fork1559
straw-fork1573
pikel1602
sheppeck1602
corn-pike1611
wain-forka1642
pick1777
pickle1847
peak1892
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 14v Flayle, strawfork [1577 strawforke] & rake.
1858 J. Slight & R. S. Burn Bk. Farm Implements 479 The straw-fork..has rather longer prongs.
straw-gold n. the colour of straw; = sense 1d above.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > pale yellow
gullnessa1300
butter colour1629
wheat-colour1711
straw colour1737
jonquil1791
straw-yellow1794
straw1799
wax-yellow1805
sulphur-yellow1816
wax-colour1854
daffodil1855
sulphur-colour1866
sherry colour1871
tea rose1872
mastic1890
wheat1915
sulphur1924
straw-gold1963
buttermilk1977
1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 3 Here are fine expenses of pasture, turning to straw-gold in summer.
1977 J. Aiken Last Movement i. 20 Her hair had been..a pale Scottish straw-gold.
straw-knife n. a knife used for cutting and splitting straw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun] > other knives
bollock knifec1400
paring knife1415
spudc1440
pricking-knifec1500
shaving-knife1530–1
by-knifec1570
heading knife1574
stock knife1582
drawing knife1583
bung-knife1592
weeding knife1598
drawing knife1610
heading knife1615
draw knife1679
dressing knife1683
redishing knife1688
mocotaugan1716
skinning knife1767
paper knife1789
draw shave1824
leaf-cutter1828
piece-knife1833
nut-pick1851
relic knife1854
butch1859
straw-knife1862
sportsman's companion1863
ulu1864
skinner1872
hacker1875
over-shave1875
stripping-knife1875
Stanley knife1878
flat-back1888
gauge-knife1888
tine-knife1888
plough1899
band-knife1926
X-Acto1943
shank1953
box cutter1955
ratchet knife1966
ratchet1975
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6527 Chaff machine knives, and straw knives.
straw-laths n. plural the laths on which straw is fastened in thatching.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > lath
lathc1000
stooth1295
stone-lath1370
straw-laths1391
studc1525
pantile lath1690
reeper1734
tile-laths1844
1391 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 107 Et in cc stralates [printed stralanes] emp. pro domo in tenura Joh. Knygth, 16d.
1433–4 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 54 In m.ccc strelattes emptis pro grangia decimali ibidem reparanda, 6s. 6d.
1485 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 231, vij. bonches of stree lattes.
straw-like adj. resembling straw; figurative light or worthless as straw.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless > as specific thing
strawy1583
chaffy1594
ficulnean1716
straw-like1742
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 9 He loudly pleads The straw-like Trifles, on Life's common Stream.
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. VI. Pl. 45 The shafts of the feathers are produced into long lanceolate straw-like and straw-coloured processes.
strawline n. a light rope used to pull a heavier one into position, esp. in Logging.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > [noun] > lumbering equipment > light line controlling heavy cable
trip-line1905
strawline1956
1956 Amer. Speech 31 152 Strawline,..a small~size wire rope which hauls the heavy logging cables into position.
1975 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 22 June 7/4 A strawline was taken across the river by boat, then each cable was pulled to the other side by the horses.
straw-man n. (a) a figure of a man made of straw; (b) a ‘man of straw’ (Webster 1911).
ΚΠ
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 567 A scarre-crowe to make them afraide, as wee vse to deale with little children and with birdes by puppets and strawe-men.
1890 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough II. 247 Sometimes a straw man was burned in the ‘hut’.
1896 L. T. Hobhouse Theory of Knowl. 59 The straw man was easily enough knocked over by the critic who set him up.
1934 A. Woollcott While Rome Burns 76 I have often challenged one of these straw-man authorities.
1946 A. Koestler Thieves in Night 328 The authorities..only got the Rumanian captain and his crew, who couldn't give away much as all their dealings had been with straw men under assumed names.
1981 ‘M. Hebden’ Pel is Puzzled xviii. 180 He seemed active enough, but there seemed an awful lot lacking in him... Was he really just a straw man?
straw-mote n. dialect a single stalk of straw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > a single straw or particle of straw
strawc950
fescue1377
mote1550
haulm1552
feasetraw1595
straw-mote1747
Mott1963
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 69 The Hill Ants collect a vast Quantity of Pieces of dry Sticks, Chips, Straw-Motes, and other Rubbish.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. xxii. 275 Then Gabe brought her some of the new cider, and she must needs go drinking it through a strawmote.
straw-necked adj. having straw-like feathers on the neck; designating an Australian ibis (see quot. 1848).
ΚΠ
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. VI. Pl. 45 Geronticus [or Carphibis] spinicollis. Straw-necked Ibis.
Categories »
straw-needle n. a long thin needle used for sewing together straw braids ( Cent. Dict.); cf. 10c.
straw-pale adj. rare as pale as straw.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [adjective] > pale yellow
gull13..
flaxen?1523
palew1547
straw-coloured1585
branlie1589
straw colour1589
flaxy1634
festucine1646
sulphureous1656
flaxenish1661
butter colour1665
strawy1668
straw-yellow1794
bombycinous1796
sulphur-coloured1811
sherry-yellow1813
sulphur-yellow1816
bombasic1825
straw1842
wax-coloured1842
stramineous1845
maize-coloured1852
daffodil1855
daw1856
flax1873
sherry-coloured1875
mastic1890
sulpho-chromic1895
ochroid1897
wheat-coloured1898
sulphurous1899
sulphury1900
tea rose1900
straw-pale1922
1922 W. B. Yeats Seven Poems 13 Under the shadow of stupid straw-pale locks.
straw paper n. paper made from straw bleached and pulped.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > paper made from other materials
rice paper1808
straw paper1854
1854 Househ. Words IX. 86/2 A secret mode of making straw-paper.
1862 C. M. Yonge Countess Kate i. 5 Forgetting everything in the interest of her drawing on a large sheet of straw paper.
straw plait n. (also straw plat) a plait or braid made of straw, used for making straw hats, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > plait or braid made of straw
straw plait1800
straw braid1864
1800 Repertory of Arts (1801) XV. 19 A new and improved Manufacture of Straw-Plat, made of split Straw.
1842 S. C. Hall & A. M. Hall Ireland II. 164 The manufacture of straw-plait is to be found in every house.
straw-plaiter n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > manufacture of fabric from specific materials > manufacture of articles made from twigs, etc. > one who plaits straw
straw-plaiter1846
1846 C. G. F. Gore Sketches Eng. Char. (1852) 68 The hereditary race of straw-plaiters.
straw-plaiting n. and gerund; also concrete an article made of straw plait.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > basket-making > [noun] > specific processes
pairing1611
straw-plaiting1834
flat-skein work1912
waling1912
1834 J. R. McCulloch Dict. Commerce (1844) at Hats The wives and daughters of the farmers used to plait straw for making their own bonnets, before straw-plaiting became established as a manufacture.
1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton Caxtons I. ii. ii. 65 He would stand an hour at a cottage door, admiring the little girls who were straw-platting.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4849 Straw plaitings, straw hats and bonnets.
straw poll n. originally U.S. = straw vote n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > [noun] > unofficial vote
straw vote1866
straw ballot1932
straw poll1932
1932 C. E. Robinson Straw Votes iv. 52 The newspaper or magazine conducting a straw poll by the ballot-in-the-paper method prints a straw ballot in the publication for a certain period of time before an election.
1944 Chicago Tribune 26 Oct. 12/2 (heading) New deal area lifts F.D.R. in N.Y. straw poll.
1958 Spectator 6 June 722/1 In my own straw poll I found two electors who were going to vote Liberal for the first time.
1978 Nature 6 Apr. 484/3 A straw poll taken three weeks ago at a meeting of faculty professors..voted 23 to 3 against approving the proposal.
straw potatoes n. very thinly cut potato chips.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > prepared vegetables and dishes > [noun] > prepared potatoes > fried potatoes > chips
chip1854
potato chip1854
French fried potatoes1856
chip potatoes1869
pommes frites1879
French fries1902
straw potatoes1904
game chip1914
French frieds1918
pommes allumettes1962
1904 C. H. Senn New Cent. Cookery Bk. (rev. ed.) 596 Pommes Pailles (Straw Potatoes).
1959 Times 6 Apr. 13/5 Serve with sweet corn and straw potatoes.
straw ride n. (a) a track laid with straw on which horses are exercised in winter; (b) U.S. ‘a pleasure-ride in the country, taken in a long wagon or sleigh filled with straw, upon which the party sit’ ( Cent. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > outing or excursion > [noun] > type of
summering1606
campaign1748
shoemaker's holiday1768
water-party1771
marooning1773
maroon1779
junket1814
pleasure cruise1837
straw ride1856
camp1865
pleasure cruising1880
hanami1891
mystery tour1926
mystery trip1931
awayday1972
gimmick1998
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > riding school > track in > laid with straw
straw-bed1856
straw ride1856
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > riding in a vehicle > [noun] > a ride in a vehicle > ride in a wheeled vehicle > ride in types of horse-drawn vehicle
buggy ride1849
straw ride1856
hayride1896
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports ii. i. x. 357/1 The straw-ride is generally made by using the long litter of the stable laid down round a large paddock.
1881 P. B. Du Chaillu Land Midnight Sun II. 434 A custom which reminded me of the ‘straw ride’ parties common in the rural districts of the United States.
1895 Outing 26 408/1 Invitations to sailing parties, straw rides or picnics.
straw ring n. a ring of plaited straw used to support a round-bottomed vessel in an upright position.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > a stand or support to raise from the ground > circular
straw ring1651
ring-standc1865
1651 J. French Art Distillation i. 41 The lower gourd or recipient set upon straw-rings.
straw rope n. a rope made of twisted straw, used e.g. to secure thatching; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > thatching equipment > rope for fastening down thatch
simmon1616
straw rope1763
thack-rape1876
1763 ‘T. Insulanus’ Treat. Second Sight 9 As he was going out of his house on a morning, he put on straw-rope garters instead of those he formerly used.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. vii. iii. 413 See Pichegru's soldiers, this hard winter,..in their ‘straw-rope shoes and cloaks of bass-mat’.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 11 Assorted straw..is put..thick above the turnips for thatch, and kept down by means of straw-ropes.
straw-shoe n. Obsolete a name given to a hanger-on of the law-courts (to be known from his having a straw sticking out of his shoe) who was prepared to swear to anything wanted.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > perjury > perjurer
manswareOE
false swearerc1380
mansworna1400
forswearer1413
perjurera1500
perjured1526
perjurea1540
post-knight1576
knight of the post1580
perjurator1689
mounter1781
stag1823
straw-shoe1826
subornee1890
perjuress1898
1826 Q. Rev. 33 344 We have all heard of a race of men, who used in former days to ply about our own courts of law, and who, from their manner of making known their occupation, were recognized by the name of Straw-shoes. An advocate or lawyer, who wanted a convenient witness, knew by these signs where to meet with one,..‘Then come into court and swear it?’ And Straw-shoe went into the court and swore it.
straw-splitter n. one who makes over-nice distinctions, a quibbler.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > [noun] > practitioner of
ergonist1593
ergo1597
subtilist1610
subtilizer1611
ob-and-soller1678
ergoteerer1687
splitter1699
ergotist1739
subtlist1829
straw-splitter1844
hair-splitter1851
pilpulist1859
ergoteur1881
1844 W. H. Smyth Cycle Celestial Objects I. 384 (note) A certain straight-laced straw-splitter objects to the terms rising and setting, as being highly improper when applied to fixed points.
straw-splitting n. and adj. (see split v. 5b and cf. hair-splitter n., straw-splitting n. and adj.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > [adjective]
oversubtle1490
curious1585
metaphysical1646
metaphysic1663
subtle1668
subtilizing1683
hair-splitting1820
straw-splitting1828
pilpulistic1878
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > [noun] > action of
subtlinga1398
subtilizing1596
subtilization1755
hair-splitting1826
straw-splitting1828
1828 E. B. Pusey Hist. Enq. Rationalist Char. I. i. 16 The endless straw-splittings of the schoolmen.
1828 E. B. Pusey Hist. Enq. Rationalist Char. I. i. 35 Abounding..in straw-splitting distinctions.
1881 J. Morley Life R. Cobden II. xxxi. 323 They were wasting time in mere strawsplitting.
straw-stem n. a wine-glass stem pulled out of the substance of the bowl; hence, a wine glass having such a stem ( Cent. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > glass
glassc888
verrea1382
Venice glass1527
rummer1625
bottle glass1626
Malaga glassa1627
flute1649
flute-glass1668
long glass1680
mum-glass1684
toasting glass1703
wine glass1709
tulip-glass1755
tun-glass1755
water glass1779
tumbler-glass1795
Madeira glass1801
tumbling glass1803
noggin glass1805
champagne glass1815
table glass1815
balloon glass1819
copita1841
firing glass1842
nobbler1842
thimble glass1843
wine1848
liqueur-glass1850
straw-stem1853
pokal1854
goblet1856
mousseline1862
pony glass1862
long-sleever1872
cocktail glass1873
champagne flute1882
yard-glass1882
sleever1896
tea-glass1898
liqueur1907
dock-glass1911
toast-master glass1916
Waterford1916
stem-glass1922
Pilsner glass1923
Amen glass1924
ballon1930
balloon goblet1931
thistle glass1935
snifter1937
balloon1951
shot-glass1955
handle1956
tulip1961
schooner1967
champagne fountain1973
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > glass > stem
shank1553
shafta1837
stem1836
baluster stem1844
straw-stem1853
stalka1864
Silesian stem1929
1853 G. W. Curtis Potiphar Papers ii. 66 A dozen of the delicately engraved straw-stems that stood upon the waiter.
straw tick n. [tick n.2] U.S. a straw-filled mattress.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > bedding > [noun] > mattress > filled with straw
pallet1370
palliasse1506
pad1554
pouffe1583
straw-bed1585
pallet bed1620
pallet-couch1815
straw tick1931
1931 Amer. Speech 7 169 Most of these [mattresses and ticks] were filled with corn husks, straw or hay, and were called ‘husk ticks’, ‘hay mattresses’, and ‘straw ticks’.
1949 L. I. Wilder Long Winter viii. 68 They must fill the straw ticks with hay, because there was no straw in this new country.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable 195 He was sleeping on a straw tick in the lodge room over the store.
straw vote n. originally U.S. an unofficial vote taken in order to indicate the relative strength of opposing candidates or issues.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > [noun] > unofficial vote
straw vote1866
straw ballot1932
straw poll1932
1866 Cleveland (Ohio) Leader 6 Oct. 4/2 A straw vote taken on a Toledo train yesterday resulted as follows; A. Johnson 12; Congress, 47.
1887 San Francisco Thunderbolt 4 Nov. 1. The straw vote taken at the ‘Report’ office is unreliable.
1906 Daily Chron. 24 Oct. 4/5 ‘Straw’ votes, which have recently been taken in the New York State campaign, indicate that Mr. Hearst will be badly beaten.
1977 R. Holland Self & Social Context v. 175 A special session on legal registration produced a straw vote which revealed an even balance of viewpoint.
straw wine n. a luscious wine made from grapes dried or partly dried in the sun on straw.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > types of wine > [noun] > other types of wine
myrrhed winec1429
tyre1429
rochec1440
rospeys1440
raspis?a1450
caprika1475
garnade?c1475
whippetc1500
rampion?1520
Ribadavia1542
romanisk1542
Mountrosec1560
raspis wine1562
whippincrusta1593
charneco1594
absinthites1601
pitch wine1601
myrrh wine1609
wine of astonishment1611
deal1613
Sherant1620
Sheranino1632
Grecoa1660
Langoon1674
generousa1717
Massic1751
rasped wine1823
straw wine1824
vin de paille1833
vin jaune1833
vino tierno1911
mistelle1924
rancio1939
boerwyn1947
1824 A. Henderson Hist. Wines 172 The liquor..receives the name of straw wine (vin de paille).
1833 C. Redding Hist. Mod. Wines vii. 208 Straw wines are made in Franconia.
straw wisp n. a small bundle or twist of straw; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > bundle of hay or straw
feald?14..
bottlec1405
bunch?a1505
straw wisp?a1513
stook1571
wad1573
botillage1576
windling1645
pottle1730
bolting1784
strike1817
windle1825
wap1828
hay-pack1841
wake1847
plack1871
tibbin1900
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 207 Stra wispis hingis owt.
1679 in J. Evelyn Pomona in Sylva (ed. 3) 407 Instead of the straw-wisp, a Basket may be fitted, which with a little straw within will keep the Fruit in better order.
?1760 S. Haliburton Mem. Magopico v. 19 The Man is..a plain undesigning Noseo'wax, a Cat's Paw, a Straw wisp.
straw-wisped adj. enwreathed with a straw wisp.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > intertwining or interweaving > [adjective] > intertwined or interwoven > with something spec.
straw-wisped1860
1860 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne in New Monthly Mag. Feb. 142 In spite of his smock-frock and his straw-wisped hat, and his false whiskers,..she knew him for her brother.
straw woad n. Obsolete some variety of woad.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants used in dyeing > [noun] > woad
woadeOE
ash of Jerusalem1548
glastum?c1550
pastel1578
straw woad1612
dyer's woad1860
dyer's weed1866
1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 332 Woad called Iland grene woad or stra woad the tun 1cxx li.
straw-work n. work done in plaited straw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > making of other specific articles or materials > [noun] > work done in specific materials
straw-worka1684
waxwork1723
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1646 (1955) II. 501 They are curious in Straw-worke among the Nunns, even to admiration.
1798 Monthly Mag. June 429 The principal manufacture is straw-work..which is confined to about six or eight miles round Dunstable.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 463 Cabinets, boxes, and cardcases..decorated with a covering of coloured Straw-work, much resembling Mosaic work.
straw-worm n. the caddis-worm.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > division Endopterygota or Metabola (winged) > [noun] > order Trichoptera > family Phryganeidae or genus Phryganea > member of (caddis-fly) > larva of
codwormc1450
casewormc1565
codbait1620
caddis-worm1627
straw-bait1632
caddis1653
cockspur1653
piper1653
ruffcoat1653
straw-worm1653
cadew1668
cad1674
caddis-bait1833
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xii. 232 There is also another Cadis called by some a Straw-worm . View more context for this quotation
straw-yellow n. and adj. = straw colour n., straw-coloured adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > pale yellow
gullnessa1300
butter colour1629
wheat-colour1711
straw colour1737
jonquil1791
straw-yellow1794
straw1799
wax-yellow1805
sulphur-yellow1816
wax-colour1854
daffodil1855
sulphur-colour1866
sherry colour1871
tea rose1872
mastic1890
wheat1915
sulphur1924
straw-gold1963
buttermilk1977
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [adjective] > pale yellow
gull13..
flaxen?1523
palew1547
straw-coloured1585
branlie1589
straw colour1589
flaxy1634
festucine1646
sulphureous1656
flaxenish1661
butter colour1665
strawy1668
straw-yellow1794
bombycinous1796
sulphur-coloured1811
sherry-yellow1813
sulphur-yellow1816
bombasic1825
straw1842
wax-coloured1842
stramineous1845
maize-coloured1852
daffodil1855
daw1856
flax1873
sherry-coloured1875
mastic1890
sulpho-chromic1895
ochroid1897
wheat-coloured1898
sulphurous1899
sulphury1900
tea rose1900
straw-pale1922
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 29 Straw yellow.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic xxxiv. 285 The finest varieties..transmit a straw-yellow tint.
1843 J. E. Portlock Rep. Geol. Londonderry 214 From yellowish-brown to rich straw yellow.

Draft additions June 2016

straw mushroom n. a small edible mushroom, Volvariella volvacea (family Pluteaceae), pale tan in colour with a darker brown cap, cultivated primarily on rice straw in East and South-East Asia and harvested while immature, before the cap is fully developed; also paddy-straw mushroom.
ΚΠ
1919 North-China Herald 4 Oct. 23/2 They are what are known as straw mushrooms, that is those grown on straw.
1975 J. H. Burnett Mycogenetics xii. 235 The mushroom industry, based on Agaricus bisporus in Europe and Asia and on the paddy-straw mushroom (Volvariella spp.) and shiitake..in Asia.
2007 Vanity Fair June 175/2 Then a miso soup with straw mushrooms and seaweed.
2014 T. Cotter Org. Mushroom Farming 354 (caption) Paddy straw mushrooms (Volvariella volvacea) showing the beautiful sac-like volvas and pinkish gills they develop as they mature.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

strawn.2

Obsolete.
Apparently some foreign denomination of weight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > other disused units
markOE
peisea1382
straw1540
scruple1656
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 14 §2 [Freight from Denmark] Item for everie strawe of wax of xvj C. waight xiiij s.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

strawadj.

Brit. /strɔː/, U.S. /strɔ/, /strɑ/
Etymology: Short for straw-coloured adj.
= straw-coloured adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [adjective] > pale yellow
gull13..
flaxen?1523
palew1547
straw-coloured1585
branlie1589
straw colour1589
flaxy1634
festucine1646
sulphureous1656
flaxenish1661
butter colour1665
strawy1668
straw-yellow1794
bombycinous1796
sulphur-coloured1811
sherry-yellow1813
sulphur-yellow1816
bombasic1825
straw1842
wax-coloured1842
stramineous1845
maize-coloured1852
daffodil1855
daw1856
flax1873
sherry-coloured1875
mastic1890
sulpho-chromic1895
ochroid1897
wheat-coloured1898
sulphurous1899
sulphury1900
tea rose1900
straw-pale1922
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 3/2 The annexed are the tempering heats, colours, and uses of steel of different degrees of hardness:—430° Fah., very faint yellow; for lancets. 450° pale straw; razors and surgeons' instruments.
1862 M. Brown Catal. Postage Stamps (ed. 2) 21 Letters in each corner of stamp. 3 d. pink, 4 d. vermilion, 9 d. straw.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

strawv.1

Brit. /strɔː/, U.S. /strɔ/, /strɑ/
Forms: Past tense and past participle strawed (rarely past participle strawn). Obsolete exc. archaic. Also Middle English strauwe.
Etymology: Apparently representing a dialect pronunciation (with rising diphthong) of Old English streawian variant of streowian strew v.
= strew v.
1.
a. transitive. To scatter, spread loosely; to scatter (rushes, straw, flowers, etc.) on the ground or floor, or over the surface of something; to scatter or sprinkle (something in powder) over a surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter loosely or strew
strew971
strayOE
strawc1175
instriec1420
streak?c1440
overstrewc1450
straw1549
bestrew1667
spurna1722
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter loosely or strew > strew (a surface) with something
bestrewa1000
strawc1175
straw13..
strewc1384
snowc1400
overstrewc1450
strew1540
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8193 To strawwenn gode gresess þær Þatt stunnkenn swiþe swete.
a1300 Floriz & Bl. (Cambr.) 436 Cupen he let fulle of flures, To strawen in þe maidenes bures.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Fairf.) 207 I bad hem strawen [v.rr. strawe, strowe(n] floures on my bed.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 23 Take pouder Pepir, & Canelle, & straw þer-on.
c1440 Sir Eglam. 376 Bryght helmes he fonde strawed wyde, As men of armys had loste ther pryde.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 230 Now sche berith aischis out, now sche strawith rischis in the halle.
c1480 (a1400) St. Agatha 254 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 365 Þane bad he schellis & brynnand cole straw in þe floure.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 417/3 Thenne Julyan..dyd doo Strawe Salte on the body.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xxi. f. xxix Other cut doune braunches from the trees, and strawed [so 1611; 1881 Revised spread; Gk. ἐστρώννυον] them in the waye.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 12145 Hire blod all aboute aboue hit was sched, And strawet in þe strete, strenklit full þik.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. xxvii. 354 Aloë, made into powder & strawen vpon newe blooddy woundes, stoppeth the blood, and healeth the wounde.
1594 Good Huswifes Handmaide 22 b Take great Raisons and minse them small, and plucke out the kernels, and strawe them in the bottome of your pie.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cxlix The affected place being bathed with the decoction thereof, and the powder strawed on afterwards.
1725 H. Bourne Antiquitates Vulgares iv. 26 That other Custom of strawing Flowers upon the Graves of their departed Friends, is also derived from a Custom of the ancient Church.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iii. iv. 332 The strawing small chaff..on the bottom of the pigeon-house, is very proper.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Straw, to spread grass, when mown to strew.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 8 We have strawed our best..To the shark and the sheering gull.
b. With abroad. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter loosely or strew
strew971
strayOE
strawc1175
instriec1420
streak?c1440
overstrewc1450
straw1549
bestrew1667
spurna1722
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. 1 Tim. i. f. iiii In stedde of the sure doctrine of Christ, they strawe abrode vayne smokes & mystes of Jewishe questions.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1157/1 After that..the Cardinall, vnderstode these bookes of the Beggars supplication..to be strawne abroad in the streetes of London,..the sayd Cardinall [etc.].
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 106 Some saye, the ashes of his bodie were after his death strawed abroade through the Ile of Salamina.
c. absol. (The chief modern use, in allusion to Matthew xxv. 24.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter or be dispersed [verb (intransitive)] > scatter
skaila1300
to fall (also go) by the wayside1526
straw1526
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xxv. f. xxxvj Which..gadderest where thou strawedst not [1611 where thou hast not strawed (1880 Revised where thou didst not scatter); Gk. διεσκόρπισας].
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxii. 29 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 182 He giues where needs, nay rather straweth, His iustice neuer ending.
1861 J. R. Lowell Washers of Shroud 26 Still men and nations reap as they have strawn.
1914 J. K. Graham Anno Domini 76 The soul..anticipates an epoch of halcyon splendour when it shall gather where it has strawed.
2. To cover (the ground, a floor, etc.) with something loosely scattered, e.g. rushes, straw, flowers. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter loosely or strew > strew (a surface) with something
bestrewa1000
strawc1175
straw13..
strewc1384
snowc1400
overstrewc1450
strew1540
13.. K. Alis. 1026 With rose, and swete flores, Was strawed [Laud MS. ystrewed] halles, and bouris.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1617 Eche a strete was striked & strawed wiþ floures.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 2690 Al þe feldes þoȝte y-strawed of dede men al aboute.
c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 606 Though thou..strawe hir cage faire and softe as silk.
c1450 Mirk's Festial 39 Hys hall was yche day of þe ȝere new strawed, yn somer wyth grene rosches, and yn wyntyr wyth clen hay.
1544 T. Phaer Of Pestilence (1553) L vi It is good in hote time, to straw ye chamber ful of willow leues and other fresh boughes.
1572 L. Mascall tr. in Bk. Plant & Graffe Trees 69 The black figges..being dried in the sunne, and then laid in a vessell in beddes one by another, and then sprinckled or strawed all ouer, euery laye with fine meale.
1587 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnius Herbal for Bible xvi. 94 With the which [sedge] many in this Countrie do vse in Sommer time to strawe their Parlours, and Churches.
1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. iv. 169 The streetes were strawed with dead carcases.
1596 T. Danett tr. P. de Commynes Hist. viii. vi. 333 And gather vp the launces wherewith the place lay strawed.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 41 Which..hath beene sprinkled with the bloud..and strawne with the ashes, of those blessed Saints.
1650 T. Bayly Worcesters Apophthegmes 23 We had..laid some loose boards, and strawed the new made floar with rushes.
figurative.1606 T. Dekker Seuen Deadly Sinnes London i. sig. C2 Their seruants, wiues and children strawing the way before him with curses.1676 T. Baker Let. in S. P. Rigaud & S. J. Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men 17th Cent. (1841) (modernized text) II. 2 You have most ingeniously strawed the way for its invention.
3. To make or lay (a bed). Also absol. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > prepare [verb (transitive)] > prepare or put in order > specifically a bed
makec1300
strawa1400
laya1616
strew1810
a1400 St. Gregory (Vernon MS.) 574 Þe wyf strauwede [Cotton MS. (older text) strowiþ] him ful soft Þer he in Chaumbre schulde leyn.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. v. sig. R jv Commaunde the seruantes to make or straw a bedde.
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. v. sig. Rjv Cause..a bryde bed to be strawen for vs.
4. To be strewn or spread upon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter loosely or strew > be strewn upon
strew1513
overstrew1558
straw1593
bestrew1715
1593 Extracts Munic. Acc. Newcastle (1848) 29 Paide for earbes and rushes which strawde the chapple, 2s.
1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad iv. 6 And the tent of night in tatters Straws the sky-pavilioned land.
1898 J. B. Wollocombe From Morn till Eve i. 8 The green rushes that strawed the hall.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

strawv.2

Brit. /strɔː/, U.S. /strɔ/, /strɑ/
Forms: Also Middle English strowe.
Etymology: < straw n.1
1. transitive. To supply with straw.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [verb (transitive)] > bed down
littera1398
strawc1440
bedc1480
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 480/2 Strowyn, or lyteryn, stramino.
1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 47 Gyue heye to the hors And strawe them well [Fr. et les estraines bien].
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 44/1 And brought hym in and strowed his cameles and gaf them chaff and heye.
2. intransitive (slang.) See quot. 1851.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > selling or sale of specific things > sell specific things [verb (intransitive)] > sell straws as cover
straw1851
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > act fraudulently, cheat [verb (intransitive)]
faitc1330
defraudc1384
to take (the) advantagea1393
false1393
halt1412
haft1519
juggle1528
wily beguile1550
foist1584
lurch1593
fog1621
imposture1624
rook1637
impone1640
cheat1647
chicane1671
humbug1753
fineer1765
gag1781
mountebank1814
jockeya1835
sniggle1837
barney1848
straw1851
honeyfuggle1856
skinch1891
finagle1926
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 215/1 The practice of what is called ‘strawing’, or selling straws in the street, and giving away with them something..forbidden to be sold,—as indecent papers, [etc.].

Derivatives

strawed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > [adjective] > scattered loosely or strewn > strewn with something > specific
strawed1887
1887 J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 103 Farmsteads..with..their deeply strawed yards.
ˈstrawing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > selling or sale of specific things > [noun] > selling straws for cover
strawing1851
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > [noun] > action
bulling1532
cogging1570
cozening1576
coney-catching1591
fool-taking1592
gulling1600
bat-fowling1602
sharking1602
imposturing1618
mountebanking1672
shamming1677
sharping1692
fineering1765
overreachinga1774
pigeoning1808
flat-catching1821
thimble-shifting1834
thimblerigging1839
strawing1851
thimbling1857
fiddling1884
piking1884
ramping1891
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 239/1 I have already alluded to ‘strawing’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c950n.21540adj.1842v.1c1175v.2c1440
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