in vain
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To no avail, useless, as in All our work was in vain. [c. 1300] Also see take someone's name in vain.
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Words nearby in vain
in vacuo, invade, invaginable, invaginate, invagination, in vain, invalid, invalidate, invalidism, invalidity, invalidity benefit
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use in vain in a sentence
When Montezuma's tree fell the people gathered on the house-tops to watch the east-in vain, for the white man was there.
Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land, Complete|Charles M. SkinnerA man is not an elder because his head is gray; his age may be ripe, but he is called "Old-in-vain."
Sacred Books of the East|VariousI come as a friend, and that I may save you a labour-in-vain trouble.
Caleb Williams|William Godwin