come to nothing

come to nothing

To result in no tangible or appreciable difference; to fail. Well, all of our efforts came to nothing in the end, really. The bank decided to foreclose on us regardless of the money we raised.

See also: come, nothing, to

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

come to nothing

 and come to naught

to amount to nothing; to be worthless. So all my hard work comes to nothing. Yes, the whole project comes to naught.

See also: come, nothing, to

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

come to nothing

Also, come to naught. Fail, as in All his efforts have come to nothing, or The last round of peace talks came to naught. The first term dates from the mid-1500s, the variant from the early 1600s.

See also: come, nothing, to

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

come to ˈnothing

,

not ˈcome to anything/much

not have a successful result: The latest attempt to end the dispute came to nothing. ♢ They had a scheme for making a lot of money quickly, but it never came to anything.

See also: come, nothing, to

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017