| 释义 |
nothingpron.n.adv.int. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: none adj., thing n.1 Etymology: < none adj. (compare no adj.) + thing n.1In Old English usually written as two words; in Middle English and early modern English written indifferently as one word or as two. Forms showing devoicing of /ŋɡ/ to /ŋk/ are attested from Old English onwards (compare β. forms at thing n.1), and survive in modern English (regional and nonstandard) nothink /ˈnʌθɪŋk/ (compare also nuffink at nuffin n. Forms). See discussion at anythink pron. and n. Webster (1886) records two variant pronunciations, /ˈnɒθɪŋ/ and /ˈnʌθɪŋ/. However, the majority of 19th-cent. sources including Perry (1805), Walker (1806), Smart (1857), and Worcester (1860) give only the pronunciation /ˈnʌθɪŋ/. A. pron. and n.In earliest use normally preceded or followed by another negative (generally equivalent to standard English anything in a negative context); this construction continues to occur frequently, but after the end of the Middle English period is chiefly nonstandard. 1. Not any (material or immaterial) thing; nought. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > nothing the world > space > place > absence > [noun] > nothing or absence of anything α. OE (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 23 On þam dæge ge ne biddað me nanes þinges. lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius (Bodl.) xxvi. 59 Nis nan þing soðre þonne þæt ðu segst. a1225 (c1200) (1888) 43 He..ne forleas naþing ðe godd him hadde betaht. c1230 (?a1200) (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 65 Na þing þet ha deð nis gode licwurðe. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 560 He has it [sc. man's soul] wroght..for-þi es nathing him sua dere. ?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford (1940) 22691 (MED) Of wardes settyng na þing þai roght. c1480 (a1400) St. Matthias 343 in W. M. Metcalfe (1896) I. 232 I na-thynge spek forthire her of his lowynge. 1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in (1998) I. 213 That successione..has na thing ado now wyth the deuile. 1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. 55 Leif nathing that belangis to the Paip. 1572 (a1500) (1882) 508 Thow fand me fechand nathing that followit to feid. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1888) I. 63 Of the fishes, how copious thair thay ar, I neid to say naything. 1599 A. Hume sig. E1v My mouth is sealed vp as though, I had nathing to say. 1603 vii. sig. A3v Giue hir this Tablet and this King, This Pursse of gold and spair nathing. 1725 A. Ramsay ii. iii. 25 Keep naithing up, ye naithing have to fear. 1786 R. Burns Holy Fair xxv, in 52 Lasses that hae naething! 1816 W. Scott I. xi. 252 And div ye think..that my man and my sons are to gae to the sea in weather like yestreen..and get naething for their fish? 1886 R. L. Stevenson iii. 16 Go into the kitchen and touch naething. 1913 J. Muir v. 185 Na, na, there's nathing in my pooch for ye the day..but I'll get ye something. 1938 ‘N. Shute’ iv. 69 'Tis the Lord's will, and we must say naething against it. a1250 in C. Brown (1932) 7 (MED) Ine me nis noþing feier on to biseonne. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) 3013 Heo ne seide naþing seð. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) ii. 2507 (MED) Ther was nothing desobeissant Which was to Rome appourtenant. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 195v Among metalle is noþing so effectuell in vertue as golde. c1400 (Rawl. B. 171) 163 (MED) We may noþing so worþi offre, competent satisfaccioun to make to God..but if it were our owen body. 1485 (Caxton) i. i. sig. ajv Ther shalle be nothyng resonable, but thow shalt haue thy desyre. a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun (Royal) ii. 2372 All swth he sayd and na thyng fals. 1548 E. Gest sig. D.ii What an vnsufferable mockedge is this aswel of god as of our souerayne lord ye king, to acknowlege wt them ye masse Sacrifice to be nothing propiciatory. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. lxxxij Therfore did we nothing in this warre contrary to our dutie. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. ii. 460 Ther's nothing ill, can dwell in such a Temple. View more context for this quotation 1652 E. Sparke xxiv. 258 There being in them nothing either Petitory or gratulatory. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil 98 Without thee nothing lofty can I sing. View more context for this quotation 1728 J. Gay i. iv. 4 What of Bob Booty, Husband? I hope nothing bad hath betided him. 1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur ii. 36 The seed is by that time committed to the ground; there is nothing very material to do at home. 1816 W. Scott III. i. 18 Our Antiquary, to leave nothing unexplained, had commenced with the funeral rites of the ancient Scandinavians. 1861 J. Nichol in (1896) 95 Remember the proverb, ‘Nothing great is easy’. 1892 Oct. 636/2 Apsley Villa was nothing surprisingly grand. 1917 E. Wharton xv. 215 There was nothing unusual in his departure except its suddenness. 1956 R. S. Bourne (new ed.) 140 A professional belief that for the building-up of the modern American city nothing too fine could be conceived. 1981 L. R. Banks xxiv. 186 It's nothing special, as churches go. 2. the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > no part of something OE tr. Vitas Patrum in B. Assmann (1889) 196 Þa ne gefredde he naþinc þæs brynes for þam miclan luste. lOE (Laud) anno 1096 Se wæs Papa gehaten þeah þe he þæs setles naþing næfde on Rome. a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 98 in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 165 (MED) Nabbeð hi naþing forȝeten of al þet ho iseȝen. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Otho) 3213 Ne bid ich no þing of his [c1275 Calig. nanne maðmes]. a1375 (c1350) (1867) 2195 (MED) Þe loueli white beres..wisten no-þing of þis werk. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 2543 (MED) O prai wald abram nathing haue. c1450 in H. Anstey (1898) I. 285 (MED) He..bequethyd unto us..all þe latyn bokes þt he had..off þe whych gods we have no thynge yet receyved. c1480 (a1400) St. Pelagia 23 in W. M. Metcalfe (1896) II. 205 Wantande nathing of bewte, þat in a woman suld fundyn be. c1540 (?a1400) 13215 Of Nigromansy ynogh nothing hom lakked. 1541 T. Elyot x. f. 19v Ye nothing haue appaired of the imperyal maiestie. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay i. vii. 6 Finding nothyng of that they sought for. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. ii. 402 Nothing of him that doth fade. View more context for this quotation 1671 J. Milton 374 Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me But justly. View more context for this quotation 1711 R. Steele No. 43. ⁋8 We were in nothing of the Secret. 1723 D. Defoe (ed. 2) 203 I..began..with nothing: That is to say, I had nothing of Stock. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1768 I. 307 Johnson..has nothing of the bear but his skin. 1813 J. Austen III. ix. 159 They seemed..to have the happiest memories in the world. Nothing of the past was recollected with pain. View more context for this quotation 1850 N. Hawthorne Introd. 19 His voice and laugh..had nothing of the tremulous quaver and cackle of an old man's utterance. 1912 J. Conrad 146 ‘We are not living in a boy's adventure tale.’.. ‘We aren't indeed! There's nothing of a boy's tale in this.’ ?1955 M. Stewart xv. 125 Buried them in quicklime, so that there was nothing of them left? 1988 Apr. 10/1 The setting of the sun is daily repeated, but with repetition loses nothing of its wonder. 1641 J. Johnson 21 The doubtfull is excluded, for that it promiseth nothing of certaine. 1645 King Charles I in (1662) 316 I..have nothing of new to direct you in. 1662 J. Evelyn i. 11 That there might be nothing of deficient as to our Institution. 1700 J. Dryden Char. Good Parson in 532 Yet, had his Aspect nothing of severe. 1829 W. S. Landor 2nd Ser. II. i. 62 [Newton] Nothing of excellent is to be done by felicity. 1869 A. C. Swinburne in July 79 Nothing of common is there, nothing of theatrical. 1904 F. W. Orde 122 Nothing of good, dear Lord, is mine. 3. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > not worth considering 1382 Matt. xxiii. 16 Who euere shal swere by the temple of God, no thing is [a1425 L.V. it is no thing]. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) iii. 1824 (MED) Who that is of man no king, The remenant is as no thing. c1500 (1895) 120 For if..I were taken of our enmyes, of my lyf is nothing. 1548 f. ccxxxv Ye same night..fel a smal raine nothyng to speak of. 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. ii. 110 So that skill in the weapon is nothing without sacke. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. ii. 39 A man (they say) that from very nothing..is growne into an vnspeakable estate. View more context for this quotation 1632 W. Lithgow iii. 88 It was nothing to see euery day foure or fiue men killed in the streetes. 1705 G. Stanhope II. 274 We..falsely imagine we are Something when in Truth we are Nothing. 1771 S. Foote iii. 59 As to yourself,..your friends are low folks, and your fortune just nothing at all. 1796 J. Austen 14 Jan. (1995) 3 Our party..will consist of Edward Cooper, James (for a Ball is nothing without him), Buller..& I. a1817 J. Austen (1818) II. i. 19 For myself, it is nothing; I never think of myself. View more context for this quotation 1861 C. Dickens II. vii. 119 I told him I had come up again, to say how sorry I was... ‘Pooh!’ said he..‘it's nothing, Pip.’ 1883 W. D. Howells (new ed.) II. xii. 3 He would be nothing without her. 1915 W. S. Maugham xl. 189 ‘It's awfully kind of you to take so much trouble with me,’ said Philip. ‘Oh, it's nothing,’ she answered! 1941 V. Woolf 163 ‘All that fuss about nothing!’ a voice exclaimed. 1996 20 Feb. ii. 22/1 The row he sparked was nothing compared with the ‘Battle of Styles’ fought out in the early 19th century. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant 1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin xv. 89 The daunger that wee bee scaped out of seemeth to be a thing of nothing [Fr. ce n'est rien du danger dont nous sommes eschappez]. 1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus i. 35 Vitellius, a man of nothing,..drunck at noone-day and heauy with surfet. a1628 J. Preston Treat. Effectual Faith 145 in (1631) Looke upon them as trifles, as matters of nothing. 1677 i. ii. 10 Ha, ha, ha, what a Coyle was here, about a thing of nothing. 1774 R. Warner tr. Plautus Courtezans v. ii, in B. Thornton et al. tr. Plautus V. 100 You man of nothing [L. homo nihili], see you lose not, By your neglect, the favour of the Gods. 1792 T. Jefferson Let. 9 Sept. in (1990) XXIV. 353 The constitution, which he has so often declared to be a thing of nothing which must be changed. 1823 W. Howitt & M. Howitt 15 Fancy's spoil'd child will ever surely be A thing of nothing in the worldly throng. 1863 A. Trollope II. xxxviii. 6 And now he had fought his duel, and was back in town,—and the thing seemed to have been a thing of nothing. a1971 S. Smith (1975) 52 You would not tell the truth about your grief But..made it a thing of nothing. the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > zero ?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele (1922) 27 (MED) Multiplye 2 be a 0, it wol be nothynge. 1608 G. Wilkins iii. sig. C1v Describing the sorrows which their almost vnpeopled Citty felt, who from the height of multiplication were substracted, almost to nothing. 1608 W. Shakespeare iv. 188 Thou art an O without a figure, I am better then thou art now, I am a foole, thou art nothing . View more context for this quotation 1728 C. Cibber ii. i. 20 I have a Game in my Hand, in which, if you'll croup me, that is, help me to play it, you shall go five hundred to nothing. 1743 W. Emerson 6 Consequently o will be nothing, and therefore all the Terms wherein it is found will be nothing. 1756 N. Saunderson 2 The Fluxion of a constant Quantity is nothing. 1868 28 Nov. 446/3 This match..ended in favour of the School by five shies to nothing. 1891 30 Nov. 4/7 Yorkshire beat Lancashire..by the narrow margin of a penalty goal to nothing. 1902 XXVIII. 12/2 In neutral, and still more in acid solutions, the dissociation of the indicator is practically nothing, and the liquid is colourless. 1965 B. Friel 72 You mind the size of Jimmy?—five foot nothing and scared of his shadow. 1987 M. Brett xvii. 189 The value of the XYZ shares is unlikely to fall to nothing. 2002 (Nexis) 3 Feb. 25 It wasn't like Brian began each diary entry with: ‘weight: 7 stone nothing.’ 5. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > that which is non-existent 1535 Job xxvi. 7 He stretcheth out ye north ouer the emptie, & hangeth ye earth vpon nothinge. 1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay ii. 26 God, to shewe vs that he made all of nothing, hath left a certeyne inclination in his Creatures, whereby they tend naturally to nothing. 1633 G. Herbert 161 Embroider'd lyes, nothing between two dishes; These are the pleasures here. 1648 J. Beaumont vii. cclxviii. 115 A Mortall Life, is but an handsome Fiction, Nothing well dress'd, a flattering Contradiction. 1692 R. Bentley ii. 14 Meer Nothing being never able to produce any thing at all. 1701 J. Norris I. ii. 74 I thought it had been a..maxim all the world over, that nothing could have no properties or relations. a1708 W. Beveridge (1709) 136 It is as easy for him to..send me back into my Mother Nothing. 1790 E. Burke 274 It is here that your modern legislators have gone deep into the negative series, and sunk even below their own nothing . View more context for this quotation 1828 T. Carlyle in 1 438 An emissary of the primeval Nothing. 1862 H. Spencer ii. iv. §67. 241 Nothing cannot become an object of consciousness. 1951 L. MacNeice tr. J. W. von Goethe i. 48 That which stands over against the Nothing, The Something, I mean this awkward world. 1978 C. James in 4 June 25/1 From the air Siberia looks like cold nothing. The Sea of Japan looks like wet nothing. the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > utter destruction or annihilation > that which has been annihilated 1567 l. 970 Luste: Luste from the beginning frequented hath bene And shall I now turne to nothing for thee. a1577 T. Smith (1963) 30 To earth again he is turned and brought; He is deade, he is caron, he is nothing, alas. 1600 W. Shakespeare v. i. 304 Dem.: No Die, but an ace for him. For he is but one. Lys.: Lesse then an ace, man. For he is dead, he is nothing . View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher iii. ii. 209 So lookes the chafed Lyon Vpon the daring Huntsman that has gall'd him: Then makes him nothing . View more context for this quotation 1673 J. Dryden v. i. 62 Oh that this Flesh were turn'd a cake of Ice, that I might in an instant melt away, and become nothing, to escape this Torment. 1724 G. Jeffreys i. i. 12 Whate'er it was, 'Tis Nothing now to Him, for he is Nothing. 1761 R. Cumberland iv. iii. 57 I go thy ready minister of Death. Farewell; you are obey'd, and he is nothing. 1812 Ld. Byron ii To me there needs no stone to tell, 'Tis Nothing that I loved so well. a1968 T. Merton (1977) 300 The people who were near the center became nothing. The whole city was blown to bits. 1993 V. Milan xiv. 179 She became gold light, became a shimmer..and then became nothing at all. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > to nothing or into extinction the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [phrase] > to nothing 1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin (ii. 9) He consumeth them to nothing with the onely red of his lippes. 1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio 22 Which made euery man suppose that after the expence of much mony, it would vanish to nothing. 1655 M. Casaubon (1656) iii. 169 Through continuall contemplation..having reduced his body to almost nothing. 1671 J. Milton iii. 388 Much instrument of war Long in preparing, soon to nothing brought. View more context for this quotation 1738 J. Swift p. iii The Conversation falls and drops to nothing. 1774 W. Mitford 35 The vowel-sound..is nearly of the same kind, but degenerated to almost nothing. 1847 C. Brontë III. ii. 74 Perhaps a little water would restore her... But she is worn to nothing. How very thin, and how very bloodless! 1875 A. W. Kinglake V. vi. xii. 248 The parapet..dwarfed down to nothing. 1915 V. Woolf xxvi. 442 D'you believe that things go on..or d'you think..we crumble up to nothing when we die? 1987 M. Dorris (1988) ix. 143 His eyebrows, full where they began..and then tapering off to nothing could have been drawn onto his forehead. 6. As a count noun. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial > types of 1577 N. Breton 17 Another nothing now, is..when a man that hath a thing to doo, Dooth thinke it easie, as a thing of nought, and yet, when that he sets himselfe thereto, He findes his nothing such a some, in deede, as more then he can well dispatch. 1594 W. Percy vi. sig. Bv Good God how sencelesse be we paramours, So proudly on a nothing for to vaunt it? a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. ii. 77 To heare my Nothings monster'd. View more context for this quotation 1644 K. Digby ii. Concl. 449 Seeking for that, which if they had found, were but a nothing of a nothing in respect of true beatitude. 1698 J. Fryer 181 A Bundle of Nonsensical Fortuitous Atoms conjoined into a Hodg-Podge of confused Nothings. 1735 J. Swift Stella at Wood-Park in II. 215 A Supper worthy of her self, Five Nothings in five Plates of Delph. 1782 F. Burney IV. vii. ix. 124 She then proceeded..to relate the little nothings that had passed since the winter. 1821 P. B. Shelley xxxix. 20 'Tis we, who..strike with our spirit's knife Invulnerable nothings. 1850 R. Monckton Milnes in (1891) I. x. 444 The little nothings of occupied life leave a man no time for his duty. 1898 W. E. Henley Hawker in Hawking in either hand Some artful nothing made of twine and tin. 1933 G. Arthur 18 Life..sometimes rich in excellent results of practical value, sometimes only resolving itself into a flutter of delicious nothings. 1968 Sept. 22/1 It's a nothing of a costume. 1996 5 Aug. 5/2 [He] remembers the '84 Olympics as ‘a fine event for L.A.'s image’, but adds that economically ‘it was the biggest nothing that ever happened.’ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > [noun] > instance of 1581 W. Charke sig. Biiii It is one of your nothings to make a shew of something, when you say, they call not themselves Iesuites, but the Societie of Iesus. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 91 Thus he his speciall nothing euer prologues. View more context for this quotation 1654 R. Whitlock 320 Mistresses that must have each day two or three Houres spent in speaking to them Nothings. 1711 A. Pope 20 Such labour'd Nothings, in so strange a Style, Amaze th' unlearn'd. 1797 C. Lamb Let. 13 Feb. in (1975) I. 104 You are very good to submit to be pleased with reading my nothings. 1824 Ld. Byron lxxviii. 44 To his gay nothings, nothing was replied. 1871 H. James viii He..caught her words through the hum of voices, at a distance, while she exchanged soft nothings with the rank and file of her admirers. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward I. i. x. 181 A few nothings had passed between them as to the weather. 1904 H. O. Sturgis vi. 82 Claude moved about among the groups..saying little laughing nothings to everyone. 1974 J. McGahern ii. 87 What we spoke were nothings but each nothing was suffused with sweetness and excitement. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. iv. 133 That harsh, noble, simple nothing: That Clotten. View more context for this quotation 1633 J. Ford i. l. 79 Acknowledge what thou art, A wretch, a worme, a nothing. 1681 J. Scott iii. 104 In the Presence of God we shall be Nothings. a1800 A. Ramsay x Strutting naethings are despis'd. 1826 B. Disraeli II. iii. iv. 30 The nameless nothings that are always lounging about the country mansions of the great. a1862 H. D. Thoreau (1865) v. 75 He seemed deeply impressed with a sense of his own nothingness, and would repeatedly exclaim,—‘I am a nothing.’ 1879 J. A. Froude xii. 163 Metellus and..Afranius, who had been chosen consuls for the year 60, were mere nothings. 1971 A. Burgess ix. 108 You're a nothing that happens to have my face. 1992 20 June 42/5 ‘He was a nothing,’ the spokesman said. ‘His cheque was worthless.’ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > worthless ?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron i. xxxvii. 130 To make man feele his owne euill, his infirmitie, his nothing. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. iv. 614 No hearing, no feeling, but my Sirs Song, and admiring the Nothing of it. View more context for this quotation a1682 Sir T. Browne (1716) iii. 113 He will experimentally find the Emptiness of all things, and the nothing of what is past. a1824 Ld. Byron (1898–1904) IV. 48 That old Sexton's natural homily, In which there was Obscurity and Fame,—The Glory and the Nothing of a Name. 1850 G. H. Boker iii. ii. 86 Nonsense, man, to place my worth Against the nothing of so weak a girl. 1855 J. H. Newman ii There were a vast many persons who ought to be Catholics, but were heretics, or nothing at all. 1891 ‘L. Falconer’ i Foreign governesses, in my opinion,..are always either Roman Catholics or nothing. 1975 R. Kelly 286 My version's graceless—but not for lack of uncles & aunts reposing out there, Catholic, Protestant, Mason & nothing. 1986 A. Hastings (1987) ii. 40 Roughly 15 per cent were Free Church and 5 per cent Catholic... Probably about 15 per cent of the population were quite emphatically nothing. B. adv. Not at all, in no way. 1. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > not > not at all OE Wærferð tr. Gregory (Hatton) (1900) ii. vi. 114 Wyrc þin worc, & ne beo þu nan þing sari. c1275 (?c1250) (Calig.) (1935) 616 (MED) Ich habbe at wude tron wel grete, Mit þicke boȝe noþing blete. c1300 (?c1225) (Cambr.) (1901) 274 (MED) Heo mas noþing [c1300 Laud naut] bliþe. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham (1902) 32 (MED) Myd sucher sorȝe schryfte, man, Wel stylle and no þyng loude. c1390 St. Dunstan (Vernon) 122 in C. Horstmann (1887) 23 (MED) Hit ne þhouhte him no-þing long. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. ix. 214 Hit is no þyng for loue thei labour þus faste. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer (Hunterian) 310 Gret distresse That she hadde suffred..Made hir ful yelow, and nothyng bright. a1450 (1969) l. 1627 I holde hym noþynge wys. a1500 (?c1450) 18 She is nothynge gilty. ?c1500 (Digby) 1981 Now of hyr goyng I am nothyng glad. ?1504 S. Hawes sig. ee.iii For she was horned and no thynge cleere. 1597 J. Gerard i. 8 [It] is nothing rough in handling. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny I. 227 About Istria and Liburnia, the sheeps fleece resembleth haire rather than wooll, nothing at all good for to make frized clothes with a high nap. 1632 W. Lithgow x. 495 The Wooll..is nothing inferiour to that of..Spaine. 1667 J. Milton ix. 1039 Her hand he seis'd, and to a shadie bank..He led her nothing loath. View more context for this quotation 1738 S. Johnson Aug. (1992) I. 19 As to the prize verses a backwardness to determine their degrees of merit, is nothing peculiar to me. 1799 J. Woodforde 4 Sept. (1931) V. 212 He came walking, dressed in a neat plain way as a private Gentleman—nothing at all Militaire. 1808 W. Scott ii. iv. 81 She loved to see her maids obey, Yet nothing stern was she in cell. 1881 ‘M. Twain’ v. 37 I was therein nothing blameful. 1917 Feb. 197/1 Nothing loth the Kalassis obeyed. 1989 G. Ewart Penultimate Poems in (1991) 410 She takes them all in her stride, nothing loth, nothing lother. a1466 in (2004) II. 320 For j-wys she ys no thyng so sadde as I wold she wer. 1526 W. Bonde iii. sig. FFFviiv Their sight is duske or dym, and no thyng so clere as is the sight of the contemplatiue person. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in 78 My calamities seeme nothing so many in comparison of your great miseries. 1620 317 A passion that can be mastered, is nothing so dangerous as one that cannot. c1660 J. Evelyn anno 1644 (1955) II. 155 Some Bathes of medicinal Waters,..but nothing so neately wald, & adornd as ours in Sommersetshire. 1712 T. Hearne (1889) III. 413 He was nothing so learned and judicious a Man as he is represented to have been. a1758 A. Ramsay (1944–73) II. 280 Flowers of most delicate Hue, By thy Cheek and thy Breasts are out-shin'd, Their Tinctures are nothing so true. 1814 W. Scott II. xix. 288 He's vera weel,..but no naithing so well-far'd as your colonel. View more context for this quotation 1826 E. Irving I. iii. 169 The insight which was given to Daniel..was nothing so minute and particular as that which was given to the apostle John. 1888 F. T. Elworthy (at cited word) He idn nothin' so large as this. 1547 J. Hooper Declar. Christe x, in (1843) 76 An infidel may receive the external sign of baptism and yet no Christian man nothing the rather. 1559 W. Cuningham 116 So shall the example be the more familiar, and your paines nothing the greater. 1591 R. Greene To Rdr. sig. Bv I haue eaten Spanish Mirabolanes, and yet am nothing the more metamorphosed. 1607 J. Norden v. 237 This peece of ground..hath had much labour and great cost bestowed on it, and the ground little or nothing the more reformed. a1662 P. Heylyn (1671) 129 More recent were the Puritans, but nothing the less dangerous. 1829 R. Southey (1831) II. 18 The bird was nothing the worse for what it had undergone. 1871 G. MacDonald v. 65 He..saw a gigantic, powerful, but most lovely arm—with a hand whose fingers were nothing the less ladylike that they could have strangled a boa-constrictor. 1878 H. James v. 90 They came home late, the blue bonnet nothing the worse for wear, and the young girl's face lighted up by her impressions. 1996 (Nexis) 6 May 12 There snuggled in the straw was the errant calf, ‘nothing the worse for wear’. α. lOE (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Þa munecas..beaden heom grið, ac hi na rohten na þing. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) l. 11002 No bið he for þan watere naððing idracched. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 12245 (MED) Na thinc can i him discreue, For sagh i neuer nan suilk mi liue. ?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford (1940) 21494 (MED) Dedeing me þink anens þin dedes, Þe to amende na þink þou spedes. 1508 (Chepman & Myllar) sig. aii*v To prise hym forthir to pray It helpis na thing. 1567 in J. H. Burton (1877) 1st Ser. I. 573 The proffeitt quhilk na thing belangit to thame. 1572 (a1500) (1882) 563 Thow trowis nathing thir taillis that I am telland. 1597 A. Montgomerie 275 Quhilk profeittis nathing at the lenth. c1600 in G. Stevenson (1910) 84 Thair wickitt lawes..To thame attend na thing at all. C. int.1883 G. W. Peck 325 ‘You are pretty rough on the old man..after he has..given you nice presents.’ ‘Nice presents nothin. All I got was a “Come to Jesus” Christmas card.’ 1899 A. Nicholas (ed. 2) 175 ‘My account—nothing!’ was her scornful ejaculation. 1922 M. B. Houston xviii. 238 ‘He could have found it, of course.’..‘Found it, nothing. I saw other things he'd taken.’ 1946 K. Tennant (1947) ii. 41 ‘How about the spooks?’.. ‘Spooks nothing.’ 1969 R. Rendell xii. 117 ‘Did you wait for him?’ ‘Wait, nothing!’ said Cullam hotly. ‘Why would I?’ 1995 C. Bateman xiv. 216 ‘Just one second there, my boy,’ she said testily. ‘But...’ ‘But nothing. I'll see if she wants to see you.’ Phrases almost nothing: see almost adv. 2b. to dance upon nothing: see dance v. 3b. good for nothing: see good adj. 8a and good-for-nothing n. and adj. to have nothing on (a person): see on prep. 26b. to make nothing: see make v.1 21b. to make nothing of: see make v.1 29a, 31b, 12c. neck or nothing: see neck n.1 Phrases 11. nothing doing: see do v. Phrases 2a. nothing less: see less pron. and n. 1b, less adj., adv., pron., n., and prep. Phrases 3. nothing short of: see short adj. 17. nothing to speak of: see to speak of —— 3 at speak v. Phrasal verbs 1. nothing to write (or wire) home about: see home adv. Phrases 6. think nothing of: see think v.2 14c. P1. Followed by a limiting particle. a. nothing but (also besides, except, save): only, merely. Cf. besides adv. and prep., but conj. 1a, except adj. 1, save prep. 2. OE Ælfric (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. §5. 20 Nis ðeos woruldlice niht nan ðing buton ðære eorðan sceadu betwux ðære sunnan & mancynne. lOE (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 963 Se biscop Aðelwold..ne fand þær nan þing buton ealde weallas & wilde wuda. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 45 (MED) Ne beo in hire [sc. Sunday] naþing iwrat bute chirche bisocnie. a1325 Statutes of Realm in f. 51 (MED) Alle þulke nimares ant purueiares ant tasturs of þe King ne nimen noþing bote þat hoem nede bihouez. c1390 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Vernon) in C. Horstmann (1895) I. 279 Þis desyr..[is] noþing but a loþing of al þis worldly blisse. c1395 G. Chaucer 1926 I wol hym visite, Haue I no thyng but rested me a lite.] c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer 896 Nothing save the deth only Mighte thee fro me departe trewely. c1440 (?a1400) (1930) 714 (MED) He hade no thynge to bere But his sadill and his gere. ?1531 J. Frith i. sig. b4v That their wordes are nothinge but euen their awne imaginacion. 1590 H. Roberts sig. D2 Consider of my cause according to my care, nothing besides thy bountie can procure my blisse. 1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye II. 529 Beastes thinke of nothing but that which they beholde. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. v. 224 This peace is nothing, but to rust Iron, encrease Taylors, and breed Ballad-makers. View more context for this quotation 1638 T. Herbert (rev. ed.) 95 A letter..dictating nothing save hypocrisie and submission. 1663 R. Boyle i. i. 3 Nothing but Mens inbred fondnesse for the Object it converses with. 1692 R. Bentley iii. 32 He acknowledges nothing besides Matter and Motion; so that all that he can conceive..must needs be perform'd either by Mechanism or Accident. 1726 J. Swift I. i. i. 7 I heard a confused Noise about me, but in the posture I lay, could see nothing except the Sky. 1751 S. Johnson No. 175. ⁋2 Nothing but the desert or the cell can exclude it from notice. 1765 W. Stevenson Vertumnus in I. 92 Nothing save rural elegance to see, What Virtue is, what Grandeur ne'er can be. 1788 T. Taylor Diss. Platonic Doctr. Ideas in tr. Proclus I. p. xiii A self-motive nature, which is nothing besides self-motion, is the cause of motion to all things. 1800 J. Austen 8 Nov. (1995) 55 The Tables are come... I had not expected..that we should so well agree in the disposition of them; but nothing except their own surface can have been smoother. 1811 W. Kirkpatrick 49 Where is the great quantity of baggage belonging to you, seeing that you have nothing besides tents, pawls, and other such necessary articles? 1821 Ld. Byron Isles of Greece in 51 Where nothing, save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep. c1838 W. H. Murray in M. R. Booth (1973) IV. 160 Mark me: no amendments, no conferences—I'll have ‘the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill’. 1863 E. C. Gaskell II. iii. 61 She felt that he wanted her to say something, but she could think of nothing besides an ambiguous ‘Well?’ 1881 12 Aug. 5/2 It [sc. Ascension] nurtures nothing save turtle and wideawakes. 1913 J. Muir i. 45 Some of them naething but raw gorblings but lots of them as big as their mithers and ready to flee. 1934 3 Jan. 21/3 A bad set in a good possie will bring nothing save an occasional adventurous doe. 1992 B. Bova 3 Through the thick insulation of his pressure suit helmet Jamie could hear nothing except his own excited breathing. OE Ælfric (Laud) 58 Se ðe wel spricð & þa word na gelæst, he ne deð nan þingc buton fordemð hine sylfne. c1400 (Bodl.) 68 (MED) Þou schalt..do noþing but occupie þe wiþ hure in preieres. 1485 W. Caxton tr. (1957) 52 The doulphyn dyd nothyng nyȝt ne day, but admonested hys doughter. 1512 R. Copland tr. xxii. sig. G.1 They founde but .vi. chyldren, to whome they dyde nothyng but toke awaye theyr chaynes. 1601 B. Jonson iii. ii. sig. F He do's nothing but stabbe the slaue. View more context for this quotation 1722 D. Defoe 5 I did nothing but Work and Cry all Day. 1782 F. Burney V. x. vi. 295 Contenting himself with doing nothing but scribble and scribe. 1813 J. Austen III. xv. 269 She could do nothing but wonder at such a want of penetration. View more context for this quotation 1865 E. C. Gaskell Some Passages from Chomley in Nov. He..misspent his time more than ever, doing nothing but frequenting bowling-houses and gaming-houses. 1886 J. A. Froude 140 When doing nothing except wandering in the shade of the wood. 1894 S. R. Crockett 74 I was to do nothing except lie thus prone on my forefront. 1928 G. B. Shaw lxix. 328 Napoleon often moodled about for a week at a time doing nothing but play with his children or read trash or waste his time helplessly. 1931 ‘G. Trevor’ i. 12 So far he seemed to have done nothing in life except win the Newdigate. 1992 A. Gray (1993) xxii. 217 Sexual intercourse enfeebles the brain and body if over-indulged, but in rational doses does nothing but good. OE Wærferð tr. Gregory (Hatton) (1900) Pref. 4 Hit ne gewunode nan þing elles to þenceanne, buton ymbe þa heofonlican þing. c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) 570 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill (1956) 510 Noþing elles y newilnede, Louerd bote þe. c1392 34 (MED) Lettere D ne seruyth of nothyng ellis but for to shewe the wher thow shalt bygynne thy reknyng. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) ii. 1166 (MED) Sche wolde him nothing elles sein Bot of hir name. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 13471 Þis he said..To fand him and nathing elles. c1425 tr. J. Arderne (Sloane 6) (1910) 37 [B]ubo is ane aposteme bredyng wiþin þe lure..wiþ grete hardnes but litle akyng..þat is noþing elles þan a hidde cankere. a1450 (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 3 (MED) For noþing ellis but onely for to kyndil þi loue to hym. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. clxix. 206 And they had neuer done nothynge els, I was bounde to rewarde theym. 1554–5 N. Ridley (1841) 14 I haue..done nothing else but digged a pit. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. cxxiijv In suche also as concerned religion and nothyng els. 1628 tr. Meslier 29 If I can serue in nothing else but to keepe your griefes for you, it is no little lightning. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus 542 If I had done nothing else herein but trifled. 1673 J. Milton Psalm IV in (new ed.) 134 Things false and vain and nothing else but lies? 1756 W. Toldervy I. 123 Have you nothing else to do but cleaning the books? a1774 O. Goldsmith (1776) I. 187 The followers of Newton say, that this power is nothing else but that of attraction. 1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin III. vi. 138 Where these great beds [of cardoon] occur, nothing else can live. 1869 J. Martineau 2nd Ser. 42 Sin is nothing else than moral evil. 1908 L. M. Montgomery iv. 50 How do you know but that it hurts a geranium's feelings just to be called a geranium and nothing else? 1994 20 Oct. 63/1 The search for knowledge really is nothing else but a kind of power-seeking. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [phrase] > most important the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or extraordinary > especially or particularly [phrase] > especially or most of all > above everything a1616 W. Shakespeare (1622) ii. i. 122 O gentle Lady, doe not put me to't, For I am nothing, if not Criticall. View more context for this quotation 1846 C. Mitchell 77 The critical (musical) department..is..nothing if not meagre. 1874 J. Parker i. xi. 175 Christianity is nothing, if not spiritual. 1881 H. James II. xvii. 197 He was never precipitate; he was nothing if not discreet. 1915 C. P. Gilman Herland in Oct. 267/2 Being nothing if not practical, they set their keen and active minds to discover the kind of conduct expected of them. 1962 A. MacLean viii. 116 The departing owners had been nothing if not thorough when it had come to the removal of their goods and chattels. 1991 Fall 19/1 Mailer is nothing if not the supreme liberal. 1696 T. Southerne v. i. 67 Char. Let us live Neighbourly and Lovingly together. Wid. I have nothing else for it, that I know now. 1718 J. Breval ii. 34 Jenny, wrap him up quickly in one of those Sheets, and hide him in that Corner, we have nothing else for it. 1741 S. Richardson III. xvi. 78 So that, between one and t'other, a poor Girl has nothing for it, but a few Weeks Courtship. 1792 I. 74 They were prepared to banter me, so I had nothing for it but downright impudence. 1836 C. Shaw Let. 9 May in (1837) II. 574 I had nothing else for it, but in the middle of the night to go aside and have a very hearty weep by myself. 1875 J. Ruskin V. lv. 196 Hansli had nothing for it but to obey. 1912 J. Conrad Secret Sharer i, in 127 There was nothing else for it. He had to sit still on a small folding stool. 1949 ‘M. Innes’ xxiii. 285 There was nothing for it but a quick get-away and a going underground for good. 1992 Sept. 142/1 There was nothing for it but to remind ourselves that nature's outbursts were part of the adventure. P2. for nothing. the mind > language > statement > negation > [adverb] > no > certainly not lOE (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1124 Se penig wæs swa ifel þæt se man þa hæfde at an market an pund he ne mihte cysten þærof for nan þing twelfe penegas. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Otho) 12419 He ne mihte for noþing [c1275 Calig. for nane þingen] Melga i-finde. c1330 Sir Degare (Auch.) 13 in W. H. French & C. B. Hale (1930) 288 (MED) Þer nas no man..Þat miȝte..in iustes for noþing Him out of his sadel bring. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 11149 Of hir ne wald he for nathing, Lai of hordome mistruing. c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) 1853 I wol not have noo forgyft for nothing. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich (1904) I. l. 2562 (MED) And it be so..thanne wolde j that ȝe hym slowen for non thing. c1475 tr. A. Chartier (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 235 (MED) I wold for nothinge go vnder the penon of suche oon, for my fader was neuer vnder his. a1500 (?a1400) (Cambr. Ff) 78 (MED) Y schall for noþyng lese þe noȝt, ffor y wold dye for thy folye. 1581 J. Marbeck 258 But there present he would not bee for nothing. the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > in vain [phrase] 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. lxxx Leste they shoulde appeere to haue commen thyther for nothyng. 1580 A. Saker ii. 111 If patiente sometime to beare, rather than to make a brabbling for nothing, then is he a milkesop. 1600 N. Breton 20 I see you study not for nothing, I beleue you read Ouid, you would seeme to make such a Metamorphosis of your self. 1747 S. Richardson II. xx. 128 He will have run great risques; caught great colds;..brav'd the inclemencies of skies, and all for—nothing! 1780 S. Lee v. 93 I shall run distracted! have I married an—and all for nothing too? 1813 J. Austen III. xiii. 233 I was sure you could not be so beautiful for nothing . View more context for this quotation 1881 A. Trollope III. lvi. 163 I was ashamed... I had given you so much trouble all for nothing. 1936 J. Buchan iii. 45 He knew the ropes... He wasn't a business man for nothing. 1987 R. Hall (1990) iii. lxii. 375 The Wild Dog smiled tensely: If they see what I've done it will all have been for nothing. society > trade and finance > charges > freedom from charge > [adverb] 1569 T. Blague 13 If thou haue hyred these Priestes to sing, why arte thou angry with mee that sing for nothing? a1593 C. Marlowe (1604) sig. D3 I can make thee druncke with ipocrase at any taberne in Europe for nothing. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. ii. 148 A braue kingdome.., Where I shall haue my Musicke for nothing . View more context for this quotation 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 132 in Provisions in these parts, are so plentiful, that the Inhabitants..sell them in a manner for nothing. 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal p. xl To do any thing for nothing, was not his Maxim. 1742 H. Fielding I. i. xiv. 96 Loving the Publick well enough, to give them a Sermon or a Dose of Physick for nothing . View more context for this quotation 1789 J. Bentham xiv. p. clxxviii If..for giving you ten blows, he is punished no more than for giving you five..as often as a man gives you five blows, he will be sure to give you five more, since he may have the pleasure of giving you these five for nothing. 1849 H. D. Thoreau Resistance to Civil Govt. in 204 He was quite..contented, since he got his board for nothing. 1886 D. C. Murray xii There was not a woman of them who would not have done his clear-starching for nothing. 1902 H. James II. iv. i. 178 Nobody here, you know, does anything for nothing. 1985 30 Dec. 23/3 Hitler was no gardener. I'll tell you that for nothing. the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adverb] > without cause or reason 1592 T. Nashe (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. E3 v They are so troubled with brabblements and sutes euerie Tearme, of Yeomen and Gentlemen that fall out for nothing. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. iv. 128 Will you be bound for nothing ? View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. i. 145 I will weepe for nothing, like Diana in the Fountaine. View more context for this quotation 1642 T. Fuller iii. viii. 169 He who will be angry for any thing, will be angry for nothing. 1722 D. Defoe 267 My Governess rattled and made a great noise..that she should be used thus for nothing. 1789 J. Bentham ii. p. vii You are not to imagine that we are punishing ourselves for nothing: we know very well what we are about. 1847 E. Brontë I. ix. 186 What a noise for nothing!.. What a trifle scares you! 1894 ‘M. Twain’ iv. 52 ‘Tom’ was a bad baby... He would cry for nothing. 1955 M. Wheeler ix. 152 Not for nothing was the admirably flamboyant Highland Division..known to its envious friends as the Highway Decorators. 1978 K. J. Dover ii. 107 It is not for nothing that Aiskhines attaches such importance..to the power of rumour and gossip. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > not > not at all a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) ii. 2513 (MED) To some it [sc. peace] thoghte for the beste, To some it thoghte nothing so..Whos herte stod upon knyhthode. a1500 (?a1400) (Cambr.) (1930) 419 (MED) Þen seid þe scheperde, ‘Noþing soo! I con a game worthe þei twoo.’ c1530 A. Barclay ii. sig. L v But many folys thynke it is nothynge so. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Hippocrates in 275 As if Democritus had bene outragious indeede: who was nothing so. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus iii. 139 In the spring-time it is nothing so. 1642 T. Taylor i. xxiii. 91 When some replyed, That the soules of men were immortall..hee..swore, that he thought it nothing so. 1701 N. Grew iv. iv. §24 Some may think of Jael, that..she was no better than a Trapanning Hussy. But nothing so. 1874 J. R. Lowell iv. ii Our social monotone of level days, Might make our best seem banishment; But it was nothing so. 1890 J. R. Lowell 115 Our social monotone of level days, Might make our best seem banishment; But it was nothing so. 1996 R. Allsopp (at cited word) He told her he was takin[g] her to a fete, but when they got there, was nothin [g] so. Just two other men drinkin[g] rum with some woman or nother. a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer (1987) ii. 808 He which that nothing undertaketh, Nothyng n'acheveth, be hym looth or deere. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. ccccxiii. 722 Sir..he that nothyng aduentureth nothynge getteth. 1546 J. Heywood i. xii. sig. F Where as nothyng is, the kyng must lose his ryght. 1555 J. Heywood sig. B.iiiv Where nothyng is, a lyttle thyng doth ease. Where althyng is, nothyng can fully please. 1559 T. Cooper (rev. ed.) at Fortis Fortune foretherethe bolde aduenturers, nothyng venture, nothyng haue. 1580 T. Tusser (new ed.) f. 20v This Prouerbe,..that nothing who practiseth, nothing shall haue. 1602 N. Breton sig. C2v With that the young man replyed: oh sir, nothing venter nothing haue. 1614 Cocks in 342 As the saying is, nothing seek nothing find. 1668 C. Sedley iii. ii Who ever caught any thing with a naked hook? Nothing venture, nothing win. a1704 T. Brown To Author in Duke of Buckingham (1705) II. ii. 97 Thou know'st the Proverb: Nothing due for naught. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1777 II. 166 I am, however, generally for trying, ‘Nothing venture, nothing have’. 1841 R. W. Emerson 1st Ser. (Boston ed.) iii. 90 Nothing venture, nothing have. 1869 E. Marshall iii. 48 ‘Nothing venture nothing get,’ was the end of her meditation. 1885 29 186/2 ‘Nothing venture, nothing have,’ Betty replied saucily. 1915 C. P. Gilman in Feb. 41/1 ‘Nothing venture, nothing have,’ I suggested, but Terry preferred ‘Faint heart ne'er won fair lady’. 1930 H. Crane 13 July (1965) 353 But ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’—and I can't help thinking that my mistake may warn others. 1957 R. Downing (2000) xviii. 154 ‘Jonah, aren't you taking a hell of a risk?’ ‘Of course. We all are. But then “nothing venture nothing have”.’ 1995 31 Mar. 28/4 Nothing ventured, nothing gained, is my motto. P5. In adverb use. the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [phrase] > totally different the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > not at all ?a1425 f. 150 (MED) Þe stenche þer of is no þinge liche to þe stenche of a canker. a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve (Harl. 4866) (1897) 3023 Hir woys was..nothyng lyke a mannys voise in soun. a1549 A. Borde (1870) 133 Not of that effycacyte as is spoken of, nor nothing like. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. xliijv Not so much credit to be giuen vnto them, nothing like, as to the scripture. 1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) iii. v, in I. 41 This Gentleman do's it, rarely too! but nothing like the other. a1649 W. Drummond (1913) I. 132 The Sunne from East to West who all doth see, On this low Globe sees nothing like to thee. 1668 F. Kirkman II. xxxiv. 313 He knew you well enough, not to be so mistaken: for the party that was in that habit was nothing like you. 1739 P. Aubin i. 238 Our homely Cell, indeed, is nothing like the splendid Places I have heard you talk of. 1782 E. Blower III. 111 [She sits her horse] nothing like so well as you used to do. 1815 I. 194 Nothing like so excellent as your epigrammatic translation. 1874 A. Trollope II. xxxi. 256 An entry into the borough so triumphant that nothing like to it had ever been known at Tankerville. 1910 I. 771/1 Exposure to air and rain also causes slight corrosion, but to nothing like the same extent as occurs with iron, copper or brass. 1933 E. A. Robertson ii. 34 The Cottrells were nothing like ready, to father's annoyance. 1991 J. C. Oates 62 Mrs. Dietrich looked nothing like the extraordinary woman in Rossetti's painting. the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adverb] > not nearly or far from being 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo (1586) i. 5 b Your courteous good will maketh you go beyond the trueth,..which commeth nothing neere to that you spake of. 1610 II. Ezek. xlviii. Comm. The terrestrial citie of Jerusalem..was nothing nere so large. 1642 D. Rogers 59 This was no great state (nothing neere Naamans). 1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville 25 Not much inferior to the other, but nothing near so large. 1757 E. Burke i. §13. 23 The influence of reason in producing our passions is nothing near so extensive as is commonly believed. 1814 M. Edgeworth I. ix. 273 Miss Petcalf is nothing near so dark as Mrs. Carneguy, surely. 1874 B. P. Shillaber 119 Things then were nothing near as slow As they appear in our romances. a1966 D. Schwartz (1967) 87 To our perspective, nothing near, The moving pins lack actuality. 1991 E. R. Taylor (BNC) 67 ‘Black and White Danish Dairy! Nothing near as tasty and tender as our——’ and..Mitzi named an Austrian breed Elisabeth had never heard of. a1619 Lady A. Clifford (1990) 52 I found this time that he was nothing as much discontented with this arguement as I thought he would have been. P6. In hyperbolic phrases, having the sense ‘absolutely nothing’. 1494 (Pynson) iii. sig. lvv/2 To their noblesse..No thinge in erth was more expedient. 1535 Psalms lxxii[i]. 25 There is nothinge vpon earth, that I desyre in comparison of the. 1629 J. Mede Let. in H. Ellis (1824) 1st Ser. III. 283 In Queen Elizabeth's days, when nothing on earth was surer than Chequer pay. 1680 140 Being truly sensible of your great Affections for me, assure your self, nothing on Earth shall labour more to retaliate those your Favours. 1759 J. Wesley (1872) II. 496 Nothing on the postdiluvian earth could be more pleasant than the road from hence. 1793 T. Jefferson Let. 9 June in (1995) XXVI. 241 Morris made one of his warm declarations that..nothing on earth should ever engage him to serve again in any public capacity. 1818 M. W. Shelley III. v. 100 Nothing on earth will have the power to interrupt my tranquillity. 1953 B. Boland Return in IX. 341 There is nothing on this earth so dangerous as putting out a finger to touch another human being's life. 1994 A. Theroux 103 Nothing on earth has eyes as dangerously memorable, as soft and unsleeping a steel yellow, as the Alaskan Grey Wolf. OE (Julius) (1994) 39 Us nan þingc on worulde fram Gode ne gehremme.] a1500 (?c1450) 269 (MED) He shall so be deffouled that ther ne shall nothinge in the worlde hym warantise. 1589 G. Puttenham iii. xxiv. 244 Nothing in the world could worse haue becomen them. 1638 J. Kirke i. l. 142 Wee doe nothing in the world but fight; he kils me two or three times in an houre. 1699 T. Brown tr. Erasmus in R. L'Estrange (new ed.) v. 53 The Broth was nothing in the world but Water bewitched. 1748 H. Walpole 26 May (1846) II. 256 I meant nothing in the world by wild, but the thoughtlessness of a boy of nineteen. 1784 H. Cowley iii. 44 There is nothing in the world I wish for so much. 1840 O. W. Holmes in W. C. Bryant 227 We've nothing in the world to do But just to walk about. 1898 H. James Turn of Screw iii, in 26 His indescribable little air of knowing nothing in the world but love. 1907 J. Conrad viii. 229 Poor Stevie had nothing in the world he could call his own except his mother's heroism and unscrupulousness. 1996 Feb. 83/1 There's nothing in the world as bad as a bad drunk act. P7. to be nothing to. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless c1520 tr. Terence Andria i. ii, in sig. A.viv Before this what he hath done is nothing to me truly. 1584 T. Cogan l. 58 What Rusticks do or may do without hinderance of their health is nothing to Students. 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iv. vi. 66 in II The getting of this Licence is nothing to me, without other circumstances concurre. 1686 tr. J. Chardin Coronation Solyman 90 in The Townsmen made answer, 'twas nothing to them if there were such a Famine in the City. 1724 J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger I. vi. xvi. 287 But this is nothing to the History, and you desir'd no Information, but upon his Death. 1749 J. Cleland I. 139 He was the universe to me, and all that was not him, was nothing to me. 1813 J. Austen III. xi. 193 He is nothing to us, you know, and I am sure I never want to see him again. View more context for this quotation 1885 W. H. White iv. 65 She had learned that she was nothing specially to him. 1917 E. Wharton viii. 114 Charity listened in a cold trance of anger. It was nothing to her what the village said..but all this fingering of her dreams! 1991 20 Apr. g3/4 Chicago's history and old Comiskey are nothing to Bo. 1595 W. Warner tr. Plautus v. sig. Ev Oh this is nothing to the rage he was in euen now. He called his wife bitch, and all to nought. 1599 T. Nashe 16 This common good within it selfe, is nothing to the common good it communicats to the whole state. 1601 B. Jonson i. iv. sig. Cv Your Muses haue no such water..the Iuice of your Nepenthe is nothing to it. View more context for this quotation 1608 W. Crashaw tr. N. Balbani Ep. Ded. sig. A2v But all this is nothing to that which they both suffred for their conscience. 1694 J. Collier v. 71 A new way of extracting the Spirit of Happiness; the Chymistry of a Bee is nothing to it. 1749 H. Fielding IV. xii. xiv. 312 A thousand naked Men are nothing to one Pistol. View more context for this quotation 1793 G. Morris in J. Sparks (1832) I. 415 Our old Congress was nothing to this Convention. 1811 J. Austen II. vii. 103 I never saw a young woman so desperately in love in my life! My girls were nothing to her, and yet they used to be foolish enough. View more context for this quotation 1877 C. H. Spurgeon XXIII. 77 Self is an unpleasant object for study. Anatomy is nothing to it. 1909 L. M. Montgomery xxiv. 279 When I was a girl there was a bad storm, but it was nothing to this. 1984 I. Doig (1985) i. 44 Pulling a lamb from a ewe's womb is nothing to untangling a leggy calf from the inside of a heifer. the world > action or operation > easiness > easy, easily, or without difficulty [phrase] > easy to do 1933 E. O'Neill i. 24 I know there's nothing to it, anyway. 1951 H. Wouk viii. 77 There's nothing to it, really, except making damn sure none of your watch-standers sit down or fall asleep standing up. 1974 G. Chapman et al. (1989) II. xli. 268 See, nothing to it, he's not such a toughy. 1985 T. O'Brien iii. 43 Nothing to it... Just level with the man. the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)] > collapse or come to nothing 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. f. cclixv/2 At last all came to nothynge. c1585 R. Browne 5 All Master Cartwrights arguments falleth from one to one, till it come to nothing at all. 1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay v. x. 364 Her promises came to nothing. 1699 W. Dampier i. i. 14 Nor was it his fault that it came to nothing. 1719 D. Defoe 237 All my Fancies and Schemes came to nothing. 1769 tr. L. Spallanzani 40 As to the unfecundated eggs, they only spoil, dissolve, and come to nothing. 1814 J. Austen II. ii. 44 His falling in love with Julia had come to nothing. 1889 7 Nov. 3/3 The perennial talk of an ivory famine has as yet come to nothing. 1932 4 Jan. 5/2 Repeated passing moves, testing punts ahead, and forward rushes by South Africa all came to nothing. 1956 N. Coward 11 July (2000) 327 I shall be hopping mad if..the whole business comes to nothing. 2010 28 May 31/1 All their efforts came to nothing. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless 1535 Job xxiv. 25 Who wil then reproue me as a lyar, & saye yt my wordes are nothinge worth? 1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay xviii. 330 Who knoweth not that thing to be nothing worth, that is given for nought? 1619 R. West sig. B2 To belch or bulch..Commendeth manners to be base, most foule and nothing worth. 1654 T. Fuller (1664) ii. 180 Mustard is nothing worth unless it bite. 1727 W. Mather (ed. 13) 70 Some Rich Men over-valued, tho' nothing worth. 1767 R. Warner iii. i. 290 Buffoons they now Count nothing worth. a1834 S. T. Coleridge (1835) II. 111 My Devil was to be, like Goethe's, the universal humorist, who should make all things vain and nothing worth. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Two Voices in (new ed.) II. 138 A life of nothings, nothing-worth. 1874 T. Hardy (ed. 2) I. xxii. 252 A strange old piece, goodmen—whirled about from here to yonder, as if I were nothing worth. 1927 11 Dec. 10/4 Miss Jenkins's diary..is nothing worth in itself. 1968 A. J. Arberry tr. Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī xxviii. 27 To such a one the most limpid fountains are nothing worth. the world > relative properties > relationship > non-relation > have no relation with [verb (transitive)] 1567 W. Painter II. xxix. f. 330 Sufficeth it not thy maister, that already twice I haue done him to vnderstand, that I haue nothing to do with his letters nor Ambassades. 1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger II. iii. iii. sig. Dd.iij/2 Wee Christians haue nothing to doe with this yronlike Philosophie since our Lord..vtterly condemned it. 1608 W. Shakespeare vii. 31 Away, I haue nothing to doe with thee. View more context for this quotation 1690 J. Locke ii. i. 38 This Source of Ideas..though it be not Sense, as having nothing to do with external Objects, yet it is very like it. 1715 D. Defoe I. i. iv. 101 I'll have nothing to do with it. 1749 H. Fielding V. xiii. v. 36 O d——n me, I'll have nothing more to do with you. View more context for this quotation a1817 J. Austen (1818) III. iii. 53 Mr. Wentworth was..quite unconnected; nothing to do with the Strafford family. View more context for this quotation 1874 T. Hardy II. iii. 39 But that's nothing to do with mistress! 1881 A. Trollope I. xii. 235 I mention this for the sake of explaining that she has got nothing to do with the school. a1911 D. G. Phillips (1917) II. vi. 146 No thank you. I want nothing to do with it. 1952 W. Goyen 33 So you had this complicated neighborhood, all enemies to Lucille and to Little Pigeon, having nothing whatsoever to do with either of them. 1996 2 Jan. (Northern ed.) 9/3 The development company will commission a piece of public art..which is absolutely nothing to do with the public. 1597 H. Lok viii. 76 Whose lawes (the godly wise) both must and will Indeuour most exactly to obserue, In euery point and tittle to fulfill, And wittingly in nothing much to swarue. 1656 i. i. 3 For my part, I saw him do nothing much absurd. 1816 T. Morton iii. i. 55 Miss Von Frump has looked me over, found nothing much amiss as to shape and action. 1897 22 Dec. 4/1 Matters are looking up. Still there is nothing much to sing about on our part even now. 1932 ‘F. Iles’ i. v. 77 ‘Well, anyhow, what are you doing with yourself.’.. ‘Oh, tooling around, you know. Nothing much.’ 1982 Feb. 37/1 But when it encounters a three-to four-percent grade, more throttle is applied and nothing much happens. 2000 M. Gayle xliv. 175 We'd been drinking and talking in a random way about nothing much for a couple of hours until Ginny upped the conversational stakes. P12. the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > in or to the greatest degree 1606 67 Faith Sir, its all to nothing but your daughter and M. Churms are gone both one way. 1685 N. Boteler 311 It is then all to nothing, but that the whole hundred of great Ships..shall either suffer Shipwrack upon the Shore, or be constrained to render themselves to their enemies. 1691 J. Wilson ii. i. 16 Bubbled!—by this good Light, merely bubbled!—and, when (one wou'd have thought) I had him, all to nothing. 1723 S. Centlivre i. 14 I had the Game all to Nothing, having Point, Quint, and Quatorze, the first Deal, had not the old Fellow come in, and forc'd us to throw up our Cards. 1741 S. Richardson IV. viii. 53 And has carry'd his Point all to nothing, as the Racing Gentlemen say. 1777 H. L. Thrale Diary June in (1942) I. 83 'Tis a strange thing now says Goldsmith one Night at the Club, that I should be defeated so in this Argument; for I talkd it all over this Morning by myself and had the better of you all to nothing. 1797 A. M. Bennett I. ix. 260 Why a voyage to India was all to nothing a better venture than marriage. a1818 M. G. Lewis (1834) 67 The most beautiful tree, or, rather, group of trees, all to nothing, is the Bamboo. 1845 D. O. Maddyn Let. 3 Sept. in C. G. Duffy (1890) viii. 354 The ‘Ballad Poetry of Ireland’ is admirable. It is all to nothing the best edited collection I ever saw. the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > outdoing or surpassing > outdo or surpass [verb (transitive)] > surpass or beat 1768 H. Brooke III. xvi. 175 Christians..beat us all to nothing in honour and humanity. 1784 R. Bage II. 263 If the Gods had made you poetical I should have beat Swift's Sacharissa all to nothing. 1819 (ed. 2) I. 173 Our Opera..and our balls at Almack's beat them to nothing. 1837 C. Dickens xxix. 312 Away went the good-tempered old fellow down the slide, with a rapidity which came very close upon Mr Weller, and beat the fat boy all to nothing. 1923 P. G. Wodehouse xi. 116 ‘Drink them in!’ he was yelling, his voice rising above the perpetual-motion fellow's and beating the missionary service all to nothing. a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Honest Mans Fortune v. iii, in (1647) sig. Xxxxx3/2 The courtier..h'as nothing in him but a piece of Euphues, And twenty dozen of twelvepenny riband.] a1627 H. Shirley (1638) iii They would say, he was a very good man, but alas had little or nothing in him. 1743 H. Fielding Ess. on Nothing iii, in I. 246 A Fellow, whom all the World knew to have Nothing in him. 1745 C. Cibber 71 O! what Enjoyment to a modern Sinner, To have it prov'd at last—she'd nothing in her! 1803 R. Southey (1856) I. 12 Though those big-wigs have really nothing in them, they look very formidable. 1873 T. Hardy II. vi. 110 Many women have no honest love of music..even leaving out those who have nothing in them... I mean by nothing in them those who don't care about anything solid. society > leisure > [verb (intransitive)] the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > nakedness or state of being unclothed > [adverb] the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > [verb (transitive)] > have no advantage over 1678 J. Phillips v. 55 Euryalus, a youth most proper Shews all to Ladies but his Crupper; For he had nothing on but's drawers. 1688 A. Behn 151 'Tis all in white Armor so joynted, that it moves as well in it, as if it had nothing on. 1697 J. Vanbrugh ii. 18 I..suppose her strutting in the self-same stately manner, with nothing on but her Stays, and her under scanty quilted Petticoat. 1749 H. Fielding V. xiii. viii. 69 He had nothing on but a thin Waistcoat, for his Coat was spread over the Bed, to supply the Want of Blankets. View more context for this quotation 1840 R. H. Dana xxxi. 373 We had nothing on but thin clothes, yet there was not a moment to spare. 1872 ‘M. Twain’ lxiii. 456 Plenty of dark men in various costumes, and some with nothing on but a battered stove-pipe hat..and a very scant breech-clout. 1892 A. Conan Doyle Adventure of Beryl Coronet in May 520/2 He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt. 1915 W. S. Maugham xxxviii. 178 A woman appeared with practically nothing on. 1961 17 May A3/6 Miss Mason was lying on the floor with nothing on except the scantiest of brassieres. 1971 E. Paul xi. 137 We always swam here with nothing on. 1991 J. Diski xii. 143 He had nothing on; no habit, no sandals, nothing. He walked the cloisters starkers. P15. (there is) nothing in it. 1702 R. Steele iii. 45 I must beg of your Ladiship not to be so importune to my fresh Calamity, as to mention Nut-brain any more: I'm sure there's nothing in it. 1739 H. Baker & J. Miller i. vi. 280 They thought her dead: there was nothing in it tho': She only made believe, and is mighty well again. 1767 W. Kenrick v. ii. 79 Disinherited him! says he, an idle story, Sift, an idle story, there is nothing in it. 1826 i. i. 6 As for my head's being turned, I tell you what, sir, there's nothing in it. 1873 A. Trollope II. xlvii. 284 If it [sc. the evidence] were more than slight, it would be just like any other robbery, and there would be nothing in it. ?1904 H. V. Esmond (?1904) ii. 39 There's nothing in it of course—we who know Billy know that, but these devils of women put two and two together and make it 202. a1911 D. G. Phillips (1917) II. vi. 157 None of our class of girls do any robbing. There's nothing in it. You get caught. 1982 M. Binchy ii. xii. 271 I said there was nothing in it, I was only repeating eejity old things. 1761 G. Colman v. 88 I'll certainly meet You there.—Tush! my Lord, there's nothing in it. It's hard indeed if two Persons of Condition can't bear themselves out against such trumpery Folks. 1773 D. Garrick in (new ed.) Epil. Should a husband, rather unpolite, Lock up our persons, and our roses blight; When once set free again, there's nothing in it, We can be ros'd and lily'd in a minute. 1786 A. Murphy 399 I stood in the pillory two years ago. Boccalini. Indeed! Vellum. I did: nothing in it... The pelting was but slight. 1839 C. Dickens xix. 179 ‘Why not, my dear?’ replied Ralph... ‘It is done in a moment; there is nothing in it.’ 1942 N. Balchin xiii. 219 ‘There's nothing in it,’ said Marcia. ‘Any Master in Lunacy who knew his stuff could put you in the way of it in five minutes.’ the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > the same [phrase] > there is no difference 1927 18 Dec. 19/3 The first round there was nothing much in it. In the second round Angus..punched Mansfield round the ring. 1950 E. Partridge (ed. 4) 156 Nothing in it, esp., there's nothing..(there is no appreciable—or important—difference). 1960 H. Pinter 34 Dead spit of you he was. Bit bigger round the nose but there was nothing in it. 2002 (Nexis) 21 Apr. (Sport section) 3 There's nothing in it and this race is still there to be won. society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > steering > [phrase] > order to keep close to wind 1801 J. J. Moore sig. O4 Nothing Off, the order of the helmsman not to suffer the ship to bear away, or fall off from the wind. 1846 A. Young at Near Nothing off! is an order not to let her fall off from the wind. c1860 H. Stuart (rev. ed.) 41 What is the meaning of ‘nothing off’? Keeping the ship close to the wind without shaking the sails. 1961 F. H. Burgess 151 Nothing off, helm order to keep her as close to the wind or as near on course as she is, and not let her pay off. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [phrase] > nothing, no one, not any the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > nothing > nothing at all 1811 J. Austen III. ii. 41 It seemed to him as if, now he had no fortune, and no nothing at all, it would be quite unkind to keep her on to the engagement. View more context for this quotation] 1815 A. Shakespear Jrnl. in E. Longford (1969) xxii. 432 Moved up immediately to support the Infantry—but it was too late for anything—lay in a stubble field that night—no baggage no nothing! 1835 J. F. Cooper III. iv. 93 In this happy land, there was no registration, no passports, ‘no nothin’—as Mr. Poke pointedly expressed it. 1884 Mar. 516/2 There is no store, no post-office, no sidewalked street,—no nothing. 1905 R. Kipling (1909) 8 ‘No roads, no nothing!’ said Sophie. 1968 21 Sept. a12/1 His appeal is to racial animosity, no-nothing policies. 1993 H. Stern xii. 327 We rented a room in a motel..and watched the game. No girls, no nothing. All we did was watch the game. the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > abnormal [phrase] 1861 Mrs. H. Wood II. xvi. 208 The nondescript shawl, which, to crown its other virtues, was finished off with jagged fringe; and the unsightly head-dress that was like nothing on earth! 1910 P. G. Wodehouse xviii. 158 Master Edward Waller..in frocks, looking like a gargoyle;..in sailor suit, looking like nothing on earth. 1923 A. Christie xxvi. 286 She looked like nothing on God's earth. 1942 P. Larkin Let. 13 Dec. in (1992) 49 I've had a day or so in bed feeling like nothing on earth..no appetite etc. 1974 M. G. Eberhart (1975) iv. 39 ‘What's he like?’ ‘Nothing on earth... I wouldn't trust him with a nickel.’ 1993 (BNC) 9 Jan. 136 It looks like smoked salmon and tastes like nothing on earth. 1884 ‘M. Twain’ xl. 344 Done it just as slick as nothing at all. 2000 J. Lent i. 29 She walked a mannered step through to the closed parlor and shut the door behind her soft as nothing at all. 1919 A. Jolson & G. Kahn 3 When I call she takes my hand But you ain't heard nothing yet... When we talk about the weather Then we cuddle close together That's great but wait Why you ain't heard nothing yet. 1952 V. McAlpin & J. Toombs (song) 2 ‘Ev'ry dog's gonna have his day’—So just watch me 'cause You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. 1975 (Nexis) 22 Mar. 96 Britain can count itself lucky. Compared with other countries, ‘we ain't seen nothing yet’. 1993 T. Parker (1994) xvi. 332 The increase in violence you've seen in the past two months, that's nothing..believe you me: you ain't seen nothing yet. 1936 V. McHugh 163 Suddenly he give a yell, covered 'bout half a mile in nothing flat and I see him stoop down. 1969 A. McCaffrey 244 You'd better have a sound explanation for Railly in nothing flat, because there's a no-nonsense penetration team assembling on the pad. 1997 L. F. Inada 82 Hiroshi loaded up the truck in nothing flat. Compoundsthe mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > other the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of no note or ordinary a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. vi. 83 That nothing-guift of differing Multitudes. View more context for this quotation 1647 H. Jessey (title) The exceeding riches of grace advanced by the spirit of grace, in an empty nothing creature. 1700 C. Ness 95 Unconverted Men are things that are not, Nothing-Creatures. 1847 A. Smith (ed. 4) 22 Cups, and saucers, and miniatures; inkstands,..and papier-mâché nothing-cases. 1961 (Atlantic ed.) 18 Aug. 60 All these beautiful people with nothing faces. 1965 Aug. 43/2 Little ‘nothing’ sweaters and shirts for wearing with suits. 1971 23 May (Colour Suppl.) 53/1 A girl in one of those ‘nothing’ dresses with the Quant signature written all over it. 1999 S. Rushdie (2000) iv. 102 Nissa Shetty..grew up in a shack in the middle of a cornfield outside Chester, Virginia.., down a nothing track snaking east from 295. C2. Objective. a. (a) a1817 J. Austen (1818) IV. viii. 160 After a period of nothing-saying amongst the party. View more context for this quotation (b) the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [adjective] 1724 D. Defoe 115 Yet this Nothing-doing Wretch was I oblig'd to watch and guard against. 1773 A. Grant Let. 2 May in (1806) I. 49 The incursions of these nothing doing people. 1842 W. Wordsworth Borderers in (1849–50) i. 69 Belike some Shepherd-boy, Who might have found a nothing-doing hour Heavier than work, raised it. a1594 (1991) ii. iii. 81 These nothinge fearinge hotspures that attend Our Royall Courte. 1734 Epist. 9 Each blockhead may compose This nothing-meaning verse, as fast as prose. 1747 S. Richardson II. vi. 29 Your mamma will not be permitted to be disturbed with your nothing-meaning Vocatives! 1816 J. Austen II. xiv. 255 Emma would not allow herself entirely to form an opinion of the lady,..beyond the nothing-meaning terms of being ‘elegantly dressed, and very pleasing’. View more context for this quotation 1821 C. Lamb in Apr. 385/2 Nothing-plotting, nought-caballing, unmischievous synod! 1667 36 The mad shout Of a poor nothing-understanding Rout. b. the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person 1623 T. Adams 48 What innumerable swarmes of nothing does beleaguer this Citie? 1633 T. Adams (ii. 10) 729 Droves of beggars, profest cyphers, nothing-does that swarme about this Citie. 1778 G. L. Way I. 79 That Kind of Ennuyant Nothing-to-do-ishness which is worse than all the Rest. 1794 S. T. Coleridge (1895) 72 Gloucester is a nothing-to-be-said-about town. 1812 G. Colman 136 These practical, nothing-so-easy Jokers. 1828 I. 210 Let him be bound apprentice to a nothing-to-do man. 1878 H. Wright 143 An abyss of commonplace or nothing-in-lifeism. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ 126 One of those nothing-particular-looking old chaps. 1906 Aug. 593/1 The nothing-doingness of things in general outside the office. 1922 D. H. Lawrence 104 They passed an agreeable, casual, nothing-in-particular evening. 1924 R. Graves 16 A formless lumpish, nothing-in-particular. 1961 F. Lawrence 80 Today she was in one of those cross, longing, nothing-is-right moods. 1994 30 July 46/3 The nothing-to-do-with-us approach that appears to be the hallmark of this government. Derivatives the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > obscurity or ingloriousness > [noun] > making obscure or inglorious 1834 S. T. Coleridge (2000) V. 97 It is a discontinuity in descent—and a Nothingizing of the Female. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] 1822 M. W. Shelley 20 Dec. I have nothing else except my nothingless self to talk about. 1856 P. E. Dove v. i. 278 The solar system would sink into a nothingless relation to us. 1994 J. Ceravolo 76 That cry of Booze that sparrow of soul ‘miradel’ Unique justly lotus Nothingless char of sunday. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless 1802 F. Burney 22 Mar. (1975) V. 188 God knows how little I shall ever think of our losses, & how nothingly they are. 1833 38 158 How vain, how nothingly is the groaning and struggling, and the Truth and the Virtue of the world! 1938 E. E. Cummings cccxi Quiveringly Spangle & thingless & before flashing soft neverwheres & Sweet nothingly gushing tinsel. 1998 (Nexis) 28 May 1 I too may fade..feel my insides grow heated and empty, nothingly. the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless 1801 Earl of Malmesbury IV. 36 It would be very strange if such nothingy men were to stand in the way of so great a measure. 1834 C. C. F. Greville (1875) III. xxii. 55 Parliament had opened the day before, with a long nothingy (a word I have coined) speech from the throne. 1990 25 June 58/3 But even he cannot make a nothingy play seem charming. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022). nothingv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nothing pron. and n. Etymology: < nothing pron. and n. rare. the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > annihilate or blot out of existence 1637 N. Whiting Il in Sonio Insonnadado p. xiii Soone Dame Nature Of one forme lost, informes another feature, No substances nothinged in this large globe. 1652 E. Benlowes vii. xv. 97 Their Spiritual Natures would be nothing'd quite. 1970 T. Hughes (1972) 40 Feeling spray from the sea's root nothinged on his crest Crow's toes gripped the wet pebbles. 1990 J. Gaskell ii. 222 ‘You accuse your mother of patronising yuh, I take it.’ ‘She nothings me.’ ‘You nothing my brother.’ Derivatives the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > obscurity or ingloriousness > [noun] > making obscure or inglorious a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy (1647) v. ii. 339 'Tis an abasement; (Madam) 'tis an humiliation; 'Tis such a prodigious nothinging of your selfe. 1948 8 545 We are always negating what we were. Freedom, says Sartre, is the ‘nothinging’ of the being which it is. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  pron.n.adv.int.OE v.1637 |
