spec. The time spent (connoting the trouble taken or labour performed) in doing something. in phrases such as to quitor yield (one) his while, to…
| 单词 | θ90297 |
| 释义 | the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > be of no avail [verb (intransitive)] > expend effort in vain (25) to lose or spill one's whilec1175 spec. The time spent (connoting the trouble taken or labour performed) in doing something. in phrases such as to quitor yield (one) his while, to… to speak to the windc1330 As a thing devoid of sense or perception, or that is unaffected by what one does to it: in phrases usually expressing futile action or effort, as t… tinec1330 To spend in vain or to no purpose, to waste: = lose, v.1 6. to beat the windc1375 to beat the air, to beat the wind, (to beat the water obsolete): to fight to no purpose or against no opposition; in reference to 1 Corinthians ix… lose?a1513 To spend unprofitably or in vain; to waste, get no return or result for (one's labour or efforts); to let slip (opportunities) without using them… to boil, roast, or wash a stonea1529 Proverbial phrases. to boil, roast,or wash a stone: to labour in vain, expend effort with no result. Obsolete. to lose (one's) oil1548 Oil used in a lamp for (esp. nocturnal) study; (hence, allusively) laborious study. Now only in midnight oil n. at midnight, n. adj.compounds 2. to plough the sand (also sands)a1565 to plough the sand (also sands) and variants: to labour fruitlessly or uselessly. to wash an ass's head (or ears)1581 Proverbs. †one hand washeth another (see quots. 1581 1593). to wash an Ethiop, a blackamoor (white); to wash an ass's head (or ears): to labour… to wash an Ethiop, a blackamoor (white)1581 Proverbs. †one hand washeth another (see quots. 1581 1593). to wash an Ethiop, a blackamoor (white); to wash an ass's head (or ears): to labour… to wash a wall of loam, a brick or tilea1600 Prov. to wash a wall of loam, a brick or tile (= Latin laterem lavare), to labour in vain. Cf. 3d. to milk the bull (also he-goat, ram)1616 transitive. Proverbial phrase to milk the bull (also he-goat, ram) and variants: to engage in an enterprise doomed to failure. to bark against (or at) the moona1641 figurative. To speak or cry out in a tone or temper that suggests the bark of a dog. to bark against (or at) the moon: to clamour or agitate to no… dead horse1640 taken as the type of that which has ceased to be of use, and which it is vain to attempt to revive. to cast stones against the wind1657 to cast a clod between (Scottish); to widen the breach between. †to cast galmoundis (Sc.): to cut capers. to cast a (point of) traverse: (see… dry-ditcha1670 (transitive) to work at (anything) without result, like one digging a ditch into which no water flows. baffle1860 intransitive. To struggle ineffectually; to move, act, or exert oneself in a futile manner. (In northern dialect maffle, v.) to go, run or rush (a)round in circles1933 Colloquial phrase to go, runor rush (a)round in circles: to rush about in all directions; to move or act aimlessly or inconclusively. Subcategories:— speak in vain (3) — write in vain (1) — journey in vain (1) — bestow on unappreciative recipients (1) — discover what is well-known (1) |
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