English

Alternative forms

• strawman

Noun

straw man ‎(plural straw men)

1. A doll or scarecrow (particularly one stuffed with straw).
2. An insubstantial concept, idea, endeavor or argument, particularly one deliberately set up to be weakly supported, so that it can be easily knocked down; especially to impugn the strength of any related thing or idea.
3. An innocuous person or someone of nominal or lesser importance, as a front man or straw boss.

Translations

Verb

straw man ‎(third-person singular simple present straw mans, present participle straw manning, simple past and past participle straw manned)

1. to falsely attribute an insubstantial argument (a straw man argument) to another through direct declaration or indirect implication

   Person A: "Cats have claws."
   Person B: "Not all cats have claws: some are declawed."
   Person A: "Don't straw man me; I never said all."
   Person B: "Well, I never said you said all, so don't straw man me either. But you didn't say some cats or most cats so I wanted to interject in case others assumed the lack of qualifier to imply all cats."

See also

• straw poll
• straw shoe
• straw vote