grasp for straws
Seeking unlikely salvation
To grasp for straws is to pursue desperate, unlikely solutions when better options have failed.
The image is of a drowning person reaching for floating bits of straw—anything at all that might provide support.
Also *grasp at straws*, *clutch at straws*: The defense attorney was grasping for straws by the end of the trial.
- clutchingHolding tightly onto
- flailingUncontrolled limb movement
- attemptingMaking an effort toward
- reachingExtending toward something
- last-ditchFinal desperate attempt
last resort · scrambling · desperation · seeking · struggling · wishful thinking · false hope · losing battle · long shot · slim chance · wild goose chase · lunging · shot in the dark · hopelessness · at wit's end · snatching · Hail Mary · drowning
strategic soundness
grasp for strawsthink it through