noth·ing ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nthng)
pron.
No thing; not anything: The box contained nothing. I've heard nothing about it.
No part; no portion: Nothing remains of the old house but the cellar hole.
One of no consequence, significance, or interest: The new nonsmoking policy is nothing to me.
n.
Something that has no existence.
Something that has no quantitative value; zero: a score of two to nothing.
One that has no substance or importance; a nonentity: “A nothing is a dreadful thing to hold onto” (Edna O'Brien).
adj.
Insignificant or worthless: “the utterly nothing role of a wealthy suitor” (Bosley Crowther).
adv.
In no way or degree; not at all: She looks nothing like her sister.
Idioms:
for nothing
Free of charge.
To no avail: all that trouble for nothing.
For no reason: fired him for nothing.
in nothing flat
In very little time; very quickly.
nothing doing Informal
Certainly not.
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[Middle English, from Old English nthing : n, no; see no2 + thing, thing; see thing.]
Usage Note: According to the traditional rule, nothing is invariably treated as a singular, even when followed by an exception phrase containing a plural noun: Nothing except your fears stands (not stand) in your way. Nothing but roses meets (not meet) the eye. See Usage Note at none.
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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
nothing
In addition to the idioms beginning with nothing, also see come to nothing; count for (nothing); go for nothing; have nothing on; have nothing to do with; here goes (nothing); in no time (nothing flat); leave a lot (nothing) to be desired; make nothing of; make something of (nothing); much ado about nothing; not know beans (from nothing); not to mention (say nothing of); stop at nothing; sweet nothings; think nothing of; want for nothing.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Nothing
n 1: a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it" [syn: nil, nix, nada, null, aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg, naught, zero, zilch, zip] 2: a nonexistent thing [syn: nonentity] adv : in no way; to no degree; "he looks nothing like his father"