救命稻草

(one's) last straw to clutch at / one's last hope

variant of 救[jiu4]

to save / to assist / to rescue

to save sb's life / (interj.) Help! / Save me!

life / fate / order or command / to assign a name, title etc

paddy / rice (Oryza sativa)

rice straw

variant of 草[cao3]

grass / straw / manuscript / draft (of a document) / careless / rough / CL:棵[ke1],撮[zuo3],株[zhu1],根[gen1]

variant of 肏[cao4]