- nothing
- [[t]nʌ̱θɪŋ[/t]]
♦nothings1) PRON-INDEF-NEG Nothing means not a single thing, or not a single part of something.
I've done nothing much since coffee time...
Mr Pearson said he knew nothing of his wife's daytime habits...
He was dressed in jeans and nothing else...
There is nothing wrong with the car.
2) PRON-INDEF-NEG You use nothing to indicate that something or someone is not important or significant.Because he had always had money it meant nothing to him...
While the increase in homicides is alarming, it is nothing compared to what is to come in the rest of the decade...
She kept bursting into tears over nothing at work...
Do our years together mean nothing?
N-COUNT: usu singNothing is also a noun.It is the picture itself that is the problem; so small, so dull. It's a nothing, really... All it took was a word here, a word there, to convince him that he was a nothing.
3) PRON-INDEF-NEG If you say that something cost nothing or is worth nothing, you are indicating that it cost or is worth a surprisingly small amount of money.The furniture was threadbare; he'd obviously picked it up for nothing...
Homes in this corner of Mantua that once went for $350,000 are now worth nothing.
4) PRON-INDEF-NEG: PRON adj, PRON to-inf You use nothing before an adjective or `to'-infinitive to say that something or someone does not have the quality indicated.Around the lake the countryside generally is nothing special...
There was nothing remarkable about him...
All kids her age do silly things; it's nothing to worry about.
5) PRON-INDEF-NEG: PRON so adj/adv, PRON compar (emphasis) You can use nothing before `so' and an adjective or adverb, or before a comparative, to emphasize how strong or great a particular quality is.Youngsters learn nothing so fast as how to beat the system...
I consider nothing more important in my life than songwriting...
There's nothing better than a good cup of hot coffee.
6) PHRASE: v-link PHR You can use all or nothing to say that either something must be done fully and completely or else it cannot be done at all.Either he went through with this thing or he did not; it was all or nothing.
7) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that something is better than nothing, you mean that it is not what is required, but that it is better to have that thing than to have nothing at all.After all, 15 minutes of exercise is better than nothing.
8) PHRASE: PHR n/inf/-ing You use nothing but in front of a noun, an infinitive without `to', or an `-ing' form to mean `only'.All that money brought nothing but sadness and misery and tragedy...
It did nothing but make us ridiculous...
They care for nothing but fighting.
9) CONVENTION You can say `Nothing doing' when you want to say that something is not happening or cannot be done. [INFORMAL]Pay now, or nothing doing...
`I could take the subway and have David pick me up at the station.' - `Nothing doing.'
10) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR but to-inf, PHR but n If you say that there is nothing for it but to take a particular action, you mean that it is the only possible course of action that you can take, even though it might be unpleasant. [BRIT]Much depends on which individual ingredients you choose. There is nothing for it but to taste and to experiment for yourself...
He wished he was not in a room so far from the bathroom. There was nothing for it but a long trudge through the house.
11) PHRASE: v-link PHR adj (emphasis) You use nothing if not in front of an adjective to indicate that someone or something clearly has a lot of the particular quality mentioned.Professor Fish has been nothing if not professional...
Hollywood is nothing if not creative, especially if someone else will pick up the bills.
12) CONVENTION (formulae) People sometimes say `It's nothing' as a polite response after someone has thanked them for something they have done.`Thank you for the wonderful dinner.' - `It's nothing,' Sarah said...
`I'll be on my way. I can't thank you enough, Alan.' - `It was nothing, but take care.'
13) PHRASE: there v-link PHR If you say about a story or report that there is nothing in it or nothing to it, you mean that it is untrue.It's all rubbish and superstition, and there's nothing in it.
14) PHRASE: there v-link PHR If you say about an activity that there is nothing to it or nothing in it, you mean that it is extremely easy.This device has a gripper that electrically twists off the jar top. Nothing to it...
If you've shied away from making pancakes in the past, don't be put off - there's really nothing in it!
15) PHRASE: there v-link PHR If you say about a contest or competition that there is nothing in it, you mean that two or more of the competitors are level and have an equal chance of winning.16) PHRASE: PHR n/adj (emphasis) You can use nothing less than to emphasize your next words, often indicating that something seems very surprising or important.What he had in mind amounted to nothing less than a total reversal of the traditional role of the executive...
You're nothing less than a murderer!
Syn:nothing short of17) PHRASE: PHR cl, it v-link PHR that (emphasis) If you say that it was not for nothing that something happened, you are emphasizing that there was a very good reason for it to happen.Not for nothing was the plane called `The widow-maker'...
It's not for nothing that interior decorators the world over look to the English country garden for glorious inspiration.
18) PHRASE: PHR after v (disapproval) If you say that someone is getting something for nothing, you disapprove of the fact that they are getting what they want without doing or giving anything in return.What's wrong with you is that you think you can get something for nothing.
19) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR (emphasis) Nothing of the sort is used when strongly contradicting something that has just been said.`We're going to talk this over in my office.' - `We're going to do nothing of the sort.'...
Mrs Adamson said that she was extremely sorry, in tones that made it clear that she was nothing of the sort.
Syn:no such thing20) → See also sweet nothings
English dictionary. 2008.
