windlestraw
/ˈwɪndəlˌstrɔ/
noun
- A thin, dry stalk of grass or hay, especially one that is light and easily blown by the wind.
- A single windlestraw blew across the dusty road in the autumn breeze.
- The farmer gathered a handful of windlestraw to use as kindling.
- The children made tiny whistles from the hollow windlestraw they found in the field.
- A very thin or weak person or thing.
- After his illness, he was as thin as a windlestraw.
- The old fence was nothing but a windlestraw, barely standing against the wind.
- She called the flimsy umbrella a windlestraw, as it bent in the first gust.