zilch
[zilch]
- zero; nothing: The search came up with zilch.
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Origin of zilch
1965–70, Americanism; perhaps continuous with earlier zilch snafu, Mr. Zilch a character in Ballyhoo, a humor magazine first published in 1931; for sense cf. zip3
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for zilch
Contemporary Examples
Zilch, what with Showtime's other steamy sex-heavy drama, The Affair, stealing its thunder.
15 Enraging Golden Globe TV Snubs and Surprises: Amy Poehler, 'Mad Men' & MoreKevin Fallon
December 11, 2014
His conduct is boorish and intemperate; his views are anachronistic and absurd; his moral authority is zilch.
But there is nothing—zero, zilch, nada—in the Ryan plan that demonstrates how that reduction would come to pass.
zilch
- nothing
- US and Canadian sport nil
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Word Origin
C20: of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for zilch
n.
"nothing," 1966, from earlier sense of "meaningless speech" (1960), originally Mr. Zilch (1931), comic character in the magazine "Ballyhoo." Perhaps from U.S. college slang (early 1900s) Joe Zilsch "an insignificant person." Probably a nonsense syllable, but Zilch is an actual German surname of Slavic origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper