come to nought
To fail completely; to have no successful result.
The Bank of England's anti-inflation efforts will come to nought if the U.S. Federal Reserve refuse to join in the plan.
nought
/nɔːt/
noun 4adj 2adv 2verb 1pron 1
Collocations
3VERB + NOUGHT
care, kids, teach
NOUGHT + NOUN
buyer, creatures, saith, years
PREP.
about, from
Definitions
noun
1
Nothing; something which does not exist.
"It is the truth; naught have I hidden from thee, Kallikrates."
2
A thing or person of no worth or value; nil.
3
Not any quantity of number; zero; the score of no points in a game.
0.335 cm is nought/zero point three three five of a centimeter.
4
The figure or character representing, or having the shape of, zero.
adj
1
Good for nothing; worthless.
It is nought, it is nought, saith the buyer, but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
2
Wicked, immoral.
verb
1
To abase, to set at nought.
In this naked word sin, our Lord brought to my mind, generally, all that is not good, and the shameful despite and the utter noughting that He bare for us in this life, and His dying; and all the pains and passions of all His creatures, ghostly and bodily; (for we be all partly noughted, and we shall be noughted following our Master, Jesus, till we be full purged, that is to say, till we be fully noughted of our deadly flesh and of all our inward affections which are not very good;)
The nought which is you has devoured the style and been sustained for a while as a non-you until the style is emptied out by the noughting self.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
bring to nought
To mar; to thwart.
Mr. Rattray remarks on the fine spirit of the men, even when faced with the disappointment of seeing their efforts brought to nought by subsequent storms.
Example Bank
601
"It is the truth; naught have I hidden from thee, Kallikrates."
Wiktionary02
0.335 cm is nought/zero point three three five of a centimeter.
Wiktionary03
It is nought, it is nought, saith the buyer, but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
Wiktionary04
In this naked word sin, our Lord brought to my mind, generally, all that is not good, and the shameful despite and the utter noughting that He bare for us in this life, and His dying; and all the pain
Wiktionary05
The nought which is you has devoured the style and been sustained for a while as a non-you until the style is emptied out by the noughting self.
Wiktionary06
Your usefulness is zero, your worth zero, and as zero you deserve to be treated as nothing, and in the extreme, noughted.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, nought is marked as obsolete, UK. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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