How do you use the word "straw" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "straw": A man of straw is worth a woman of gold. This is the last straw!

Straw Meaning

/stɹɔː/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA dried stalk of a cereal plant.

nounSuch dried stalks considered collectively; this bulk matter may be a chief salable product, a by-product, fodder, bedding, or green manure, depending on region and on current market conditions.

Sentence Examples

A man of straw is worth a woman of gold.

This is the last straw!

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

wheat stalk stubble

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

She used a ____ to drink her cold soda from the glass.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The farmer filled the empty stable with fresh ____ to keep the horses warm during the cold night.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English straw, from Old English strēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *strau, from Proto-Germanic *strawą (“that which is strewn, straw”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread around, strew”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sträi (“straw”), West Frisian strie (“straw”), Dutch stro (“straw”), German and German Low German Stroh (“straw”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish strå (“straw”), Icelandic strá (“straw”), Walloon strin, Albanian shtrohë (“kennel”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"‘For thy sword and thy bow I care not a straw, Nor all thine arrows to boot; If I get a knop upon thy bare scop, Thou canst as well shite as shoote.’" — 1889, “Robin Hood and the Tanner”, in Francis James Child, editor, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, volume 3, page 138:

"He also decided, which was more to his purpose, that Eleanor did not care a straw for him, and that very probably she did care a straw for his rival." — 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers:

"To be deeply interested in the accidents of our existence, to enjoy keenly the mixed texture of human experience, rather leads a man to disregard precautions, and risk his neck against a straw." — 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

"The Bromfield Street offices were housed in a dilapidated but heavily-insured building, owned by a straw for a wealthy downtown real estate developer, surrounded by expensive new commercial developments, and in a city renowned for arson-for-profit." — 1984 August 4, Larry Goldsmith, “Cops Charged With Setting GCN Fire”, in Gay Community News, page 1:

"It was the custom for the disaffected of those days to make known their grievances by distributing papers on doors of public buildings, and even strawing them in the high way, for the benefit of the chance passenger." — 1846, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, Letters of the kings of England, page 116:

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