straw

straw dried stalks of threshed grains, especially wheat, barley, oats, and rye. It has been used from antiquity for bedding, covering floors, and thatching roofs, as fodder and litter for animals, and in weaving such articles as mats, screens, baskets, ornaments and hangings, hats, sandals, fans, and armor. Straw hats are woven in one piece or made from braids sewn together. Braids have been made in Europe from medieval times and probably originated in Tuscany, Italy. They are usually made from straw selected for color, length, and lightness and are grown under special conditions of soil and climate. Fine braids, such as leghorn, are commonly of wheat stalks, often cut before they are fully ripe. Hats made of other fibers, such as the leaf fiber of the screw pine used for Panama hats, are also known as straw hats. Straw was once widely used as a packing material and in the manufacture of strawboard (a cheap cardboard) and, in combination with less brittle materials, of paper. See hay .

straw2 (arch.) scatter XII; cover with something scattered XIII. Differentiated repr. of OE. streawian, var. of stre(o)wian STREW.

straw in proverbial or allusive use, something of small value, lack of substance or value, or inflammability. (See also straws.)
draw the short straw be the unluckiest of a group of people, especially in being chosen to perform an unpleasant task; with reference to a method drawing lots that involves holding several straws of varying lengths with one end concealed in the hand, and inviting other members of the group to take one each.
the final straw a further difficulty or annoyance, typically minor in itself but coming on top of a whole series of difficulties, that makes a situation unbearable; with allusion to the proverb, it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
man of straw originally, a dummy or image made of straw; from this, a person compared to a straw image, a sham; a sham argument set up to be defeated.
straw poll an unofficial ballot conducted as a test of opinion. The term is recorded from the mid 20th century; the earlier straw vote dates (in the US) from 1866.

See also bricks without straw, a drowning man will clutch at a straw, straws.