straw in the wind

English

Noun

straw in the wind (plural straws in the wind)

1. Premonitory sign.
   • 1913, Jack London, John Barleycorn, chapter 29

     There were little hints then that I did not take, little straws in the wind that I did not see, little incidents the gravity of which I did not realise.

   • 1950, The Crisis, page 647

     [...] and the decision of the United States Supreme Court virtually commanding the Florida Supreme Court to reverse its ruling banning Negroes from playing on a city-owned golf course in Miami are straws in the wind showing that segregation is becoming more and more unworkable.

Usage notes

Used predominantly in a plural form.