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Showing results for come to nothing. Search instead for next+to+nothing.
Synonyms

come to nothing

Idioms  

  1. 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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That case has wound on for years, leaving each of the victims to constantly relive their worst moments, constantly fear that all of their courage would come to nothing.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

They both told how they had left for the capital in search of work but their hopes of finding opportunities there had come to nothing.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

While prospectors have long proposed mining the ocean floor, much like oil companies drill offshore, such efforts have come to nothing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025

This is true even if the federal probes come to nothing.

From Slate • Sep. 12, 2024

All that hard work, solving the clues, burning midnight oil, endangering the lives of his friends, it had all come to nothing.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.