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单词 nothing
释义

nothingpron.n.adv.int.

Brit. /ˈnʌθɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈnəθɪŋ/
Forms:

α. Old English nan þinc, Old English nan ðinc, Old English nanðinc (rare), Old English nan þincg, Old English nan ðincg, Old English nanþing (rare), Old English nan ðing, Old English nan þingc, Old English nanþingc (rare), Old English nan ðingc, Old English naþinc (rare), Old English na þinc (rare), Old English na þincg (rare), Old English na þingc (rare), Old English na ðingc (rare), Old English–early Middle English nan þing, Old English–early Middle English nanðing (rare), Old English (rare)–early Middle English naðing, Old English (rare)–Middle English na þing, Old English (rare)–Middle English naþing, early Middle English næn þing, early Middle English nan þin (probably transmission error), early Middle English nan þinȝ, early Middle English naððing, Middle English na thinc, Middle English nathing, Middle English nathyn (probably transmission error), Middle English nathyng, Middle English nathynge, Middle English na þinge, Middle English na þink; English regional 1800s– nawthun (Cornwall), 1900s– nawin' (Buckinghamshire), 2000s– nawthan (Cornwall); U.S. regional 1800s nawthing, 1900s– narthing, 1900s– nawthin'; Scottish pre-1700 na thinge, pre-1700 nathynge, pre-1700 naything, pre-1700 nething, pre-1700 1700s– naething, pre-1700 1700s– naithing, pre-1700 (1800s archaic) nathyng, pre-1700 1900s– nathing, 1800s nawthing, 1800s neathing, 1800s nethin, 1800s nething, 1900s– naethin', 1900s– nathan, 1900s– neethin', 1900s– nichan (Moray), 1900s– nithing; also Irish English 1800s nating, 1800s– naethin', 1900s– naethin, 1900s– nathin, 1900s– nithin; N.E.D. (1907) also records a form of the first element Middle English nat-.

β. early Middle English non ðing, early Middle English noðing, Middle English nodyng, Middle English none þing, Middle English none þinge, Middle English non thing, Middle English noothing, Middle English nooþing, Middle English no thyngge, Middle English no thynk, Middle English noþing, Middle English noþinge, Middle English noþng (transmission error), Middle English noþyng, Middle English notynge, Middle English noþynge, Middle English noþynk, Middle English no yng (transmission error), Middle English–1500s nothinge, Middle English–1500s nothyng, Middle English–1500s nothynge, Middle English– nothing, 1500s–1600s noething, 1600s noetheeng (Irish English), 1600s noethinge, 1600s notheng (Scottish), 1600s– nothink (regional and nonstandard), 1800s– nothin (regional and nonstandard), 1800s– nothin' (regional and nonstandard), 1900s– noathing (Scottish), 1900s– northin' (Australian); English regional 1700s–1800s noathing, 1800s nothen; Irish English 1800s nodhing; U.S. regional 1800s nothen, 1800s nothun, 1900s– noddin' (chiefly in African-American usage), 1900s– northin'; N.E.D. (1907) also records a form of the first element Middle English -tyng, and a form of the second element 1500s noa-.; see also nuffin n., nuthin' n., nuttin' n.

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.
a. Unqualified or with qualifying phrase or adverb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > nothing
nothingOE
nota1425
nichila1513
nowhat1530
zeroa1703
nuffin1837
nuttin'1852
nada1867
bupkis1937
the world > space > place > absence > [noun] > nothing or absence of anything
noughtOE
nothingOE
zero1821
α.
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 23 On þam dæge ge ne biddað me nanes þinges.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xxvi. 59 Nis nan þing soðre þonne þæt ðu segst.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 43 He..ne forleas naþing ðe godd him hadde betaht.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 65 Na þing þet ha deð nis gode licwurðe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 560 He has it [sc. man's soul] wroght..for-þi es nathing him sua dere.
?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. (1940) 22691 (MED) Of wardes settyng na þing þai roght.
c1480 (a1400) St. Matthias 343 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 232 I na-thynge spek forthire her of his lowynge.
1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 213 That successione..has na thing ado now wyth the deuile.
1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 55 Leif nathing that belangis to the Paip.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 508 Thow fand me fechand nathing that followit to feid.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 63 Of the fishes, how copious thair thay ar, I neid to say naything.
1599 A. Hume Hymnes sig. E1v My mouth is sealed vp as though, I had nathing to say.
1603 Philotus vii. sig. A3v Giue hir this Tablet and this King, This Pursse of gold and spair nathing.
1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd ii. iii. 25 Keep naithing up, ye naithing have to fear.
1786 R. Burns Holy Fair xxv, in Poems 52 Lasses that hae naething!
1816 W. Scott Antiquary 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 Kidnapped iii. 16 Go into the kitchen and touch naething.
1913 J. Muir Story of my Boyhood v. 185 Na, na, there's nathing in my pooch for ye the day..but I'll get ye something.
1938 ‘N. Shute’ Kindling iv. 69 'Tis the Lord's will, and we must say naething against it.
β. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 61 (MED) No þing hem ne scall trukien.a1300 (?c1175) Poema Morale (McClean) 128 in Anglia (1907) 30 231 (MED) Ac who-so noþing her naueþ ibet, muchel he haueþ to bete.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1126 Ðat water is so deades driuen Non ðing ne mai ðor-inne liuen.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 2086 Him ne miȝte no þing atstonde.a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 909 (MED) Out of his place he crepte So stille that sche nothing herde.?c1430 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 42 Freris schulle no þing apropre to hem self neiþer hous ne place ne ony oþer þing.c1450 Cron. Eng. ccxv. (Caxton, 1480) 202 So they slewe hir lord that no thynge was perceyued.a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) 493 (MED) Noþyng sawe þey þem abowte.1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Celebr. Holye Communion f. lxxvij Without whom nothyng is strong, nothing is holy.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxviijv Nothing escapeth their handes.1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 95 He..bestoweth vpon them some other reward, and many times nothing at all.1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1721 Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail Or knock the breast. View more context for this quotation1733 J. Swift Let. 8 Jan. in Wks. (1801) XIII. 21 He asks nothing; and thinks, like a philosopher, that he wants nothing.1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. ii. vi. 169 He..omitted nothing that was prescribed by the law.1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 4 Nothing which skill and expense could effect had been spared.1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1887) 279 All he [sc. the butler] hopes is, he may never hear of no foreigner never boning nothing out of no travelling chariot.1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson xvi. 214 We know nothing at all about the habits of the oyster.1905 R. Herrick Mem. Amer. Citizen 87 You won't lose nothing by it.1938 Amer. Home Oct. 22 (caption) Nothing can be dull about a room which boasts these new ‘off-shades’ to bring it completely up-to-date.1986 ‘L. Cody’ Under Contract iii. 14 There was nothing like a nervous boss for making life suddenly and unexpectedly easy.
b. With postmodifying adjective.
ΚΠ
a1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 7 (MED) Ine me nis noþing feier on to biseonne.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 3013 Heo ne seide naþing seð.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2507 (MED) Ther was nothing desobeissant Which was to Rome appourtenant.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 195v Among metalle is noþing so effectuell in vertue as golde.
c1400 Brut (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 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) i. i. sig. ajv Ther shalle be nothyng resonable, but thow shalt haue thy desyre.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) ii. 2372 All swth he sayd and na thyng fals.
1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse 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 Commentaries f. lxxxij Therfore did we nothing in this warre contrary to our dutie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 460 Ther's nothing ill, can dwell in such a Temple. View more context for this quotation
1652 E. Sparke Scintillula Altaris xxiv. 258 There being in them nothing either Petitory or gratulatory.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 98 Without thee nothing lofty can I sing. View more context for this quotation
1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. iv. 4 What of Bob Booty, Husband? I hope nothing bad hath betided him.
1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer ii. 36 The seed is by that time committed to the ground; there is nothing very material to do at home.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. i. 18 Our Antiquary, to leave nothing unexplained, had commenced with the funeral rites of the ancient Scandinavians.
1861 J. Nichol in Mem. (1896) 95 Remember the proverb, ‘Nothing great is easy’.
1892 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 636/2 Apsley Villa was nothing surprisingly grand.
1917 E. Wharton Summer xv. 215 There was nothing unusual in his departure except its suddenness.
1956 R. S. Bourne Hist. Lit. Radical (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 Writing on Wall xxiv. 186 It's nothing special, as churches go.
2.
a. No part, share, or quantity of a thing; no aspect, evidence, or quality of a thing or person.In Old English with genitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > no part of something
nothingOE
never-a-deala1325
devil a haet1721
OE tr. Vitas Patrum in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 196 Þa ne gefredde he naþinc þæs brynes for þam miclan luste.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (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 Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 165 (MED) Nabbeð hi naþing forȝeten of al þet ho iseȝen.
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 3213 Ne bid ich no þing of his [c1275 Calig. nanne maðmes].
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2195 (MED) Þe loueli white beres..wisten no-þing of þis werk.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2543 (MED) O prai wald abram nathing haue.
c1450 in H. Anstey Epistolae Academicae Oxon. (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 Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 205 Wantande nathing of bewte, þat in a woman suld fundyn be.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 13215 Of Nigromansy ynogh nothing hom lakked.
1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance x. f. 19v Ye nothing haue appaired of the imperyal maiestie.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. vii. 6 Finding nothyng of that they sought for.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 402 Nothing of him that doth fade. View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 374 Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me But justly. View more context for this quotation
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 43. ⁋8 We were in nothing of the Secret.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 203 I..began..with nothing: That is to say, I had nothing of Stock.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1768 I. 307 Johnson..has nothing of the bear but his skin.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice 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 Scarlet Let. Introd. 19 His voice and laugh..had nothing of the tremulous quaver and cackle of an old man's utterance.
1912 J. Conrad 'Twixt Land & Sea 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 Madam, will you Talk? xv. 125 Buried them in quicklime, so that there was nothing of them left?
1988 S. Afr. Panorama Apr. 10/1 The setting of the sun is daily repeated, but with repetition loses nothing of its wonder.
b. [Perhaps after French rien de (nouveau, etc.).] With of and a following adjective. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1641 J. Johnson Acad. Love 21 The doubtfull is excluded, for that it promiseth nothing of certaine.
1645 King Charles I in Wks. (1662) 316 I..have nothing of new to direct you in.
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura i. 11 That there might be nothing of deficient as to our Institution.
1700 J. Dryden Char. Good Parson in Fables 532 Yet, had his Aspect nothing of severe.
1829 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. 2nd Ser. II. i. 62 [Newton] Nothing of excellent is to be done by felicity.
1869 A. C. Swinburne in Fortn. Rev. July 79 Nothing of common is there, nothing of theatrical.
1904 F. W. Orde Prisoner of Love 122 Nothing of good, dear Lord, is mine.
3.
a. Not anything, or anybody, of importance, significance, value, or concern; something or somebody of no importance, etc. Frequently in it's nothing: used as a polite response to an apology or an expression of thanks. Chiefly in predicative use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > not worth considering
nothing1382
inconsiderable1670
reject1865
throw-out1956
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 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 Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. 1824 (MED) Who that is of man no king, The remenant is as no thing.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 120 For if..I were taken of our enmyes, of my lyf is nothing.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ccxxxv Ye same night..fel a smal raine nothyng to speak of.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. ii. 110 So that skill in the weapon is nothing without sacke. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (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 Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 88 It was nothing to see euery day foure or fiue men killed in the streetes.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels II. 274 We..falsely imagine we are Something when in Truth we are Nothing.
1771 S. Foote Maid of Bath iii. 59 As to yourself,..your friends are low folks, and your fortune just nothing at all.
1796 J. Austen Let. 14 Jan. (1995) 3 Our party..will consist of Edward Cooper, James (for a Ball is nothing without him), Buller..& I.
a1817 J. Austen Northanger Abbey (1818) II. i. 19 For myself, it is nothing; I never think of myself. View more context for this quotation
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations 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 Woman's Reason (new ed.) II. xii. 3 He would be nothing without her.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage 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 Between Acts 163 ‘All that fuss about nothing!’ a voice exclaimed.
1996 Independent 20 Feb. ii. 22/1 The row he sparked was nothing compared with the ‘Battle of Styles’ fought out in the early 19th century.
b. [Probably after French homme (etc.) de rien, or classical Latin nihilī.] of nothing: of no account, worthless. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant
thing of noughtc1425
nothing such1579
of nothing1583
nullitya1591
O1608
ciphera1616
zero1650
flinga1661
leather and prunella1734
small change1822
minus quantity1843
nuthin'1843
nothingburger1953
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie 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 Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. i. 35 Vitellius, a man of nothing,..drunck at noone-day and heauy with surfet.
a1628 J. Preston Treat. Effectual Faith 145 in Breast-plate of Faith (1631) Looke upon them as trifles, as matters of nothing.
1677 Debauchee 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 Comedies 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 Papers (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 Forest Minstrel 15 Fancy's spoil'd child will ever surely be A thing of nothing in the worldly throng.
1863 A. Trollope Phineas Finn 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 Coll. Poems (1975) 52 You would not tell the truth about your grief But..made it a thing of nothing.
4. That which is not any number or quantity; a figure or character representing this; zero. Also: a score of no points in a game; a measurement of zero (as zero inches in five foot nothing, etc.). Also figurative. Cf. nought n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > zero
nothing?c1425
nought?c1425
zeroa1703
naught1864
nowt1865
?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 27 (MED) Multiplye 2 be a 0, it wol be nothynge.
1608 G. Wilkins Painfull Adventures Pericles 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 King Lear 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 Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband 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 Doctr. Fluxions 6 Consequently o will be nothing, and therefore all the Terms wherein it is found will be nothing.
1756 N. Saunderson Method of Fluxions 2 The Fluxion of a constant Quantity is nothing.
1868 Field 28 Nov. 446/3 This match..ended in favour of the School by five shies to nothing.
1891 Daily News 30 Nov. 4/7 Yorkshire beat Lancashire..by the narrow margin of a penalty goal to nothing.
1902 Encycl. Brit. 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 Philadelphia, here I Come! 72 You mind the size of Jimmy?—five foot nothing and scared of his shadow.
1987 M. Brett How to read Financial Pages xvii. 189 The value of the XYZ shares is unlikely to fall to nothing.
2002 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 3 Feb. 25 It wasn't like Brian began each diary entry with: ‘weight: 7 stone nothing.’
5.
a. That which has no existence or being; nothingness. Also personified.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > that which is non-existent
naughtOE
nothing1535
nothingnessa1631
non-existence1646
nonentity1656
nihilation1695
nonent1885
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 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 Trewnesse Christian Relig. 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 Temple: Sacred Poems 161 Embroider'd lyes, nothing between two dishes; These are the pleasures here.
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche vii. cclxviii. 115 A Mortall Life, is but an handsome Fiction, Nothing well dress'd, a flattering Contradiction.
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. ii. 14 Meer Nothing being never able to produce any thing at all.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World 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 Private Thoughts Relig. (1709) 136 It is as easy for him to..send me back into my Mother Nothing.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 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 Foreign Rev. 1 438 An emissary of the primeval Nothing.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. iv. §67. 241 Nothing cannot become an object of consciousness.
1951 L. MacNeice tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust i. 48 That which stands over against the Nothing, The Something, I mean this awkward world.
1978 C. James in Observer 4 June 25/1 From the air Siberia looks like cold nothing. The Sea of Japan looks like wet nothing.
b. That which no longer exists; a person who or thing which has been extinguished or destroyed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > utter destruction or annihilation > that which has been annihilated
nothing1567
1567 Triall of Treasure l. 970 Luste: Luste from the beginning frequented hath bene And shall I now turne to nothing for thee.
a1577 T. Smith Certaigne Psalmes of David (1963) 30 To earth again he is turned and brought; He is deade, he is caron, he is nothing, alas.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream 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 Henry VIII 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 Amboyna 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 Edwin i. i. 12 Whate'er it was, 'Tis Nothing now to Him, for he is Nothing.
1761 R. Cumberland Banishment of Cicero iv. iii. 57 I go thy ready minister of Death. Farewell; you are obey'd, and he is nothing.
1812 Ld. Byron And thou art Dead ii To me there needs no stone to tell, 'Tis Nothing that I loved so well.
a1968 T. Merton Coll. Poems (1977) 300 The people who were near the center became nothing. The whole city was blown to bits.
1993 V. Milan From Depths xiv. 179 She became gold light, became a shimmer..and then became nothing at all.
c. to nothing: to the final point, stage, or state of a process of reduction, destruction, dissolution, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > to nothing or into extinction
outa1450
to nothing1571
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [phrase] > to nothing
to nothing1571
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (ii. 9) He consumeth them to nothing with the onely red of his lippes.
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 22 Which made euery man suppose that after the expence of much mony, it would vanish to nothing.
1655 M. Casaubon Treat. Enthvsiasme (1656) iii. 169 Through continuall contemplation..having reduced his body to almost nothing.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 388 Much instrument of war Long in preparing, soon to nothing brought. View more context for this quotation
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. iii The Conversation falls and drops to nothing.
1774 W. Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 35 The vowel-sound..is nearly of the same kind, but degenerated to almost nothing.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre 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 Invasion of Crimea V. vi. xii. 248 The parapet..dwarfed down to nothing.
1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xxvi. 442 D'you believe that things go on..or d'you think..we crumble up to nothing when we die?
1987 M. Dorris Yellow Raft in Blue Water (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.
a. A thing of no importance, value, or concern; a non-existent thing; a trifling event.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial > types of
venialc1380
nutshalea1393
nutshella1400
flea-biting1553
flea-bite1577
nothing1577
epitomea1593
quilicoma1644
ephemera1751
pinprick1853
bibelot1873
piffle1884
peanut1910
popcorn1964
trivia1968
factoid1982
1577 N. Breton Wks. Young Wyt 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 Sonnets to Fairest Coelia vi. sig. Bv Good God how sencelesse be we paramours, So proudly on a nothing for to vaunt it?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. ii. 77 To heare my Nothings monster'd. View more context for this quotation
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. 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 New Acct. E.-India & Persia 181 A Bundle of Nonsensical Fortuitous Atoms conjoined into a Hodg-Podge of confused Nothings.
1735 J. Swift Stella at Wood-Park in Wks. II. 215 A Supper worthy of her self, Five Nothings in five Plates of Delph.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. vii. ix. 124 She then proceeded..to relate the little nothings that had passed since the winter.
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais xxxix. 20 'Tis we, who..strike with our spirit's knife Invulnerable nothings.
1850 R. Monckton Milnes in Life (1891) I. x. 444 The little nothings of occupied life leave a man no time for his duty.
1898 W. E. Henley Hawker in London Types Hawking in either hand Some artful nothing made of twine and tin.
1933 G. Arthur Septuagenarian's Scrap Bk. 18 Life..sometimes rich in excellent results of practical value, sometimes only resolving itself into a flutter of delicious nothings.
1968 Encounter Sept. 22/1 It's a nothing of a costume.
1996 New Yorker 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.’
b. A trivial remark. Cf. sweet nothings n. at sweet adj. and adv. Compounds 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > empty, idle talk > [noun] > instance of
follyc1300
tittle-tattle1570
nothing1581
tattle1583
rattle1627
stultiloquy1653
pratement1657
hubble-bubble1720
spermology1890
1581 W. Charke Replie to Censure 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 All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. i. 91 Thus he his speciall nothing euer prologues. View more context for this quotation
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 320 Mistresses that must have each day two or three Houres spent in speaking to them Nothings.
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 20 Such labour'd Nothings, in so strange a Style, Amaze th' unlearn'd.
1797 C. Lamb Let. 13 Feb. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1975) I. 104 You are very good to submit to be pleased with reading my nothings.
1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XV lxxviii. 44 To his gay nothings, nothing was replied.
1871 H. James Watch & Ward 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 Marcella I. i. x. 181 A few nothings had passed between them as to the weather.
1904 H. O. Sturgis Belchamber vi. 82 Claude moved about among the groups..saying little laughing nothings to everyone.
1974 J. McGahern Leavetaking ii. 87 What we spoke were nothings but each nothing was suffused with sweetness and excitement.
c. An insignificant person; a nobody.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. iv. 133 That harsh, noble, simple nothing: That Clotten. View more context for this quotation
1633 J. Ford 'Tis Pitty shee's Whore i. l. 79 Acknowledge what thou art, A wretch, a worme, a nothing.
1681 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. I iii. 104 In the Presence of God we shall be Nothings.
a1800 A. Ramsay To Duncan Forbes x Strutting naethings are despis'd.
1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey II. iii. iv. 30 The nameless nothings that are always lounging about the country mansions of the great.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (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 Cæsar xii. 163 Metellus and..Afranius, who had been chosen consuls for the year 60, were mere nothings.
1971 A. Burgess MF ix. 108 You're a nothing that happens to have my face.
1992 Weekend Austral. 20 June 42/5 ‘He was a nothing,’ the spokesman said. ‘His cheque was worthless.’
†7. Triviality, worthlessness, insignificance. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > worthless
hawc1000
turdc1275
fille1297
dusta1300
lead1303
skitc1330
naught1340
vanityc1340
wrakea1350
rushc1350
dirt1357
fly's wing1377
goose-wing1377
fartc1390
chaff?a1400
nutshella1400
shalec1400
yardc1400
wrack1472
pelfrya1529
trasha1529
dreg1531
trish-trash1542
alchemy1547
beggary?1548
rubbish1548
pelfa1555
chip1556
stark naught1562
paltry?1566
rubbish1566
riff-raff1570
bran1574
baggage1579
nihil1579
trush-trash1582
stubblea1591
tartar1590
garbage1592
bag of winda1599
a cracked or slit groat1600
kitchen stuff1600
tilta1603
nothing?1608
bauble1609
countera1616
a pair of Yorkshire sleeves in a goldsmith's shop1620
buttermilk1630
dross1632
paltrement1641
cattle1643
bagatelle1647
nothingness1652
brimborion1653
stuff1670
flap-dragon1700
mud1706
caput mortuuma1711
snuff1778
twaddle1786
powder-post1790
traffic1828
junk1836
duffer1852
shice1859
punk1869
hogwash1870
cagmag1875
shit1890
tosh1892
tripe1895
dreck1905
schlock1906
cannon fodder1917
shite1928
skunk1929
crut1937
chickenshit1938
crud1943
Mickey Mouse1958
gick1959
garbo1978
turd1978
pants1994
?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome i. xxxvii. 130 To make man feele his owne euill, his infirmitie, his nothing.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (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 Christian Morals (1716) iii. 113 He will experimentally find the Emptiness of all things, and the nothing of what is past.
a1824 Ld. Byron Wks. (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 Anne Boleyn iii. ii. 86 Nonsense, man, to place my worth Against the nothing of so weak a girl.
8. In predicative use: that which cannot be denominated; spec. a person of no religious denomination.
ΚΠ
1855 J. H. Newman Callista ii There were a vast many persons who ought to be Catholics, but were heretics, or nothing at all.
1891 ‘L. Falconer’ Mademoiselle Ixe i Foreign governesses, in my opinion,..are always either Roman Catholics or nothing.
1975 R. Kelly Loom 286 My version's graceless—but not for lack of uncles & aunts reposing out there, Catholic, Protestant, Mason & nothing.
1986 A. Hastings Hist. Eng. Christianity 1920–85 (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.
a. Modifying an adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > not > not at all
noughteOE
nothingOE
nonewaysc1225
not a dealc1250
nothing soa1393
no-gatea1400
no-gatesa1400
no waya1400
nowaysa1400
riff no raff?a1400
in (also on, by) no kins way(s) (or wise)c1400
nowisec1425
no whitc1520
none1533
never a dysec1540
vengeance1556
in no sort1561
none ofc1571
nil1581
none1651
nowhat1651
nohow1775
du tout1824
nowt1828
nix1862
nary1895
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Hatton) (1900) ii. vi. 114 Wyrc þin worc, & ne beo þu nan þing sari.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 616 (MED) Ich habbe at wude tron wel grete, Mit þicke boȝe noþing blete.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 274 (MED) Heo mas noþing [c1300 Laud naut] bliþe.
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 32 (MED) Myd sucher sorȝe schryfte, man, Wel stylle and no þyng loude.
c1390 St. Dunstan (Vernon) 122 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 23 (MED) Hit ne þhouhte him no-þing long.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. ix. 214 Hit is no þyng for loue thei labour þus faste.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 310 Gret distresse That she hadde suffred..Made hir ful yelow, and nothyng bright.
a1450 Castle Perseverance (1969) l. 1627 I holde hym noþynge wys.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 18 She is nothynge gilty.
?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) 1981 Now of hyr goyng I am nothyng glad.
?1504 S. Hawes Example of Vertu sig. ee.iii For she was horned and no thynge cleere.
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 8 [It] is nothing rough in handling.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World 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 Totall Disc. Trav. x. 495 The Wooll..is nothing inferiour to that of..Spaine.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost 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 Let. 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 Diary 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 Marmion ii. iv. 81 She loved to see her maids obey, Yet nothing stern was she in cell.
1881 ‘M. Twain’ Prince & Pauper v. 37 I was therein nothing blameful.
1917 Yachting Monthly Feb. 197/1 Nothing loth the Kalassis obeyed.
1989 G. Ewart Penultimate Poems in Coll. Poems (1991) 410 She takes them all in her stride, nothing loth, nothing lother.
†b. With adjective or adverb preceded by so. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1466 in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 320 For j-wys she ys no thyng so sadde as I wold she wer.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection 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 Panoplie Epist. 78 My calamities seeme nothing so many in comparison of your great miseries.
1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 317 A passion that can be mastered, is nothing so dangerous as one that cannot.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 155 Some Bathes of medicinal Waters,..but nothing so neately wald, & adornd as ours in Sommersetshire.
1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 413 He was nothing so learned and judicious a Man as he is represented to have been.
a1758 A. Ramsay Wks. (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 Waverley 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 Babylon 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 W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) He idn nothin' so large as this.
c. Followed by the and a comparative.
ΚΠ
1547 J. Hooper Declar. Christe x, in Early Writings (1843) 76 An infidel may receive the external sign of baptism and yet no Christian man nothing the rather.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 116 So shall the example be the more familiar, and your paines nothing the greater.
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage To Rdr. sig. Bv I haue eaten Spanish Mirabolanes, and yet am nothing the more metamorphosed.
1607 J. Norden Surueyors Dialogue 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 Cyprianus Angl. (1671) 129 More recent were the Puritans, but nothing the less dangerous.
1829 R. Southey Sir Thomas More (1831) II. 18 The bird was nothing the worse for what it had undergone.
1871 G. MacDonald At Back of North Wind 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 Watch & Ward 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 Irish Times (Nexis) 6 May 12 There snuggled in the straw was the errant calf, ‘nothing the worse for wear’.
2. Qualifying a verb. Now chiefly in certain phrases, as nothing daunted, to avail (a person) nothing.
ΚΠ
α.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Þa munecas..beaden heom grið, ac hi na rohten na þing.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11002 No bið he for þan watere naððing idracched.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12245 (MED) Na thinc can i him discreue, For sagh i neuer nan suilk mi liue.
?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. (1940) 21494 (MED) Dedeing me þink anens þin dedes, Þe to amende na þink þou spedes.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. aii*v To prise hym forthir to pray It helpis na thing.
1567 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 573 The proffeitt quhilk na thing belangit to thame.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 563 Thow trowis nathing thir taillis that I am telland.
1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 275 Quhilk profeittis nathing at the lenth.
c1600 in G. Stevenson Poems A. Montgomerie (1910) 84 Thair wickitt lawes..To thame attend na thing at all.
β. c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 61 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 108 (MED) Heo ne couþe no-þing conteini hire ne speken no-þe-mo.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 982 (MED) Þing þat woneþ & noþing wexþ, sone it worþ ido.c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 455 All way þai war nothyng lukid after.1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) xxiv. 43 Hir lord her husbond was no thyng plesid that she went so gladly.a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. B.ij I praise nothyng the knowlege of myne auncesters.1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Qiiiiv Citiziens, whoes lawes & ordenaunces if it were not for feare he wold nothing at al esteme.1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 95 You blamed my beginning, yet haue you altred it nothing.1631 Foxe's Actes & Monuments (ed. 7) II. 425/2 It did nothing at all abhorre from Nature.1691 Case of Exeter-Coll. Pref. sig. A ijv Insignificant suggestions that trench nothing at all on the merits of the Cause.1702 Eng. Theophrastus 164 Naked lessons and precepts have nothing the force that Images and Parables have upon our minds.1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. v. lxii. 307 An aristocracy however differs nothing from a despotism.1846 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. in Wks. II. 107/1 They often infect those who ailed nothing.1866 Duke of Argyll Reign of Law ii. 57 It helps us nothing in such a difficulty, to say that [etc.].1922 M. Allen in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1921 47 This protest availed her nothing, for the neighbour hurriedly departed, having been unwilling from the first.1947 M. E. Boylan This Tremendous Lover (new ed.) ii. 15 Her part would avail nothing without the merits of her Son.1992 R. Black Orkney (BNC) 67 Nothing daunted, the committee members set to.
C. int.
colloquial (originally U.S.). Following a repetition of all or part of a previous statement in order to express vehement contradiction.
ΚΠ
1883 G. W. Peck Mirth for Millions 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 Idyl of Wabash (ed. 2) 175 ‘My account—nothing!’ was her scornful ejaculation.
1922 M. B. Houston Witch Man xviii. 238 ‘He could have found it, of course.’..‘Found it, nothing. I saw other things he'd taken.’
1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) ii. 41 ‘How about the spooks?’.. ‘Spooks nothing.’
1969 R. Rendell Best Man to Die xii. 117 ‘Did you wait for him?’ ‘Wait, nothing!’ said Cullam hotly. ‘Why would I?’
1995 C. Bateman Cycle of Violence 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.
(a) With a noun phrase following the limiting particle.In quot. c1395 a past participle follows.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iii. §5. 20 Nis ðeos woruldlice niht nan ðing buton ðære eorðan sceadu betwux ðære sunnan & mancynne.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (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 Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 45 (MED) Ne beo in hire [sc. Sunday] naþing iwrat bute chirche bisocnie.
a1325 Statutes of Realm in MS Rawl. B.520 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 Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 279 Þis desyr..[is] noþing but a loþing of al þis worldly blisse.
c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1926 I wol hym visite, Haue I no thyng but rested me a lite.]
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 896 Nothing save the deth only Mighte thee fro me departe trewely.
c1440 (?a1400) Sir Perceval (1930) 714 (MED) He hade no thynge to bere But his sadill and his gere.
?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye i. sig. b4v That their wordes are nothinge but euen their awne imaginacion.
1590 H. Roberts Defiance to Fortune 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 French Acad. II. 529 Beastes thinke of nothing but that which they beholde.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (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 Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 95 A letter..dictating nothing save hypocrisie and submission.
1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. i. i. 3 Nothing but Mens inbred fondnesse for the Object it converses with.
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. 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 Gulliver 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 Rambler No. 175. ⁋2 Nothing but the desert or the cell can exclude it from notice.
1765 W. Stevenson Vertumnus in Orig. Poems 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 Philos. & Math. Comm. I. p. xiii A self-motive nature, which is nothing besides self-motion, is the cause of motion to all things.
1800 J. Austen Let. 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 Tippoo's Lett. 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 Don Juan: Canto III 51 Where nothing, save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep.
c1838 W. H. Murray in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (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 Sylvia's Lovers II. iii. 61 She felt that he wanted her to say something, but she could think of nothing besides an ambiguous ‘Well?’
1881 Standard 12 Aug. 5/2 It [sc. Ascension] nurtures nothing save turtle and wideawakes.
1913 J. Muir Story of my Boyhood i. 45 Some of them naething but raw gorblings but lots of them as big as their mithers and ready to flee.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Jan. 21/3 A bad set in a good possie will bring nothing save an occasional adventurous doe.
1992 B. Bova Mars 3 Through the thick insulation of his pressure suit helmet Jamie could hear nothing except his own excited breathing.
(b) After the verb to do. Formerly followed by a verb in the corresponding inflected form; now usually by the bare infinitive, or, after doing, the gerund.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Let. to Sigeweard (De Veteri et Novo Test.) (Laud) 58 Se ðe wel spricð & þa word na gelæst, he ne deð nan þingc buton fordemð hine sylfne.
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 68 (MED) Þou schalt..do noþing but occupie þe wiþ hure in preieres.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Paris & Vienne (1957) 52 The doulphyn dyd nothyng nyȝt ne day, but admonested hys doughter.
1512 R. Copland tr. Knyght of Swanne xxii. sig. G.1 They founde but .vi. chyldren, to whome they dyde nothyng but toke awaye theyr chaynes.
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love iii. ii. sig. F He do's nothing but stabbe the slaue. View more context for this quotation
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 5 I did nothing but Work and Cry all Day.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. x. vi. 295 Contenting himself with doing nothing but scribble and scribe.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice 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 Fraser's Mag. Nov. He..misspent his time more than ever, doing nothing but frequenting bowling-houses and gaming-houses.
1886 J. A. Froude Oceana 140 When doing nothing except wandering in the shade of the wood.
1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders 74 I was to do nothing except lie thus prone on my forefront.
1928 G. B. Shaw Intell. Woman's Guide Socialism 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’ Murder at School i. 12 So far he seemed to have done nothing in life except win the Newdigate.
1992 A. Gray Poor Things (1993) xxii. 217 Sexual intercourse enfeebles the brain and body if over-indulged, but in rational doses does nothing but good.
b. nothing else: no other thing, only this. With but or than: no other thing than, only. Cf. else adv. 1.With construction following to do as for Phrases 1a(b).
ΚΠ
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (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 S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 510 Noþing elles y newilnede, Louerd bote þe.
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 34 (MED) Lettere D ne seruyth of nothyng ellis but for to shewe the wher thow shalt bygynne thy reknyng.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 1166 (MED) Sche wolde him nothing elles sein Bot of hir name.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 13471 Þis he said..To fand him and nathing elles.
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (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 Pater Noster Richard Ermyte (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 3 (MED) For noþing ellis but onely for to kyndil þi loue to hym.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. clxix. 206 And they had neuer done nothynge els, I was bounde to rewarde theym.
1554–5 N. Ridley Wks. (1841) 14 I haue..done nothing else but digged a pit.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxxiijv In suche also as concerned religion and nothyng els.
1628 tr. Meslier True Hist. Hipolito & Isabella 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 Colloquies 542 If I had done nothing else herein but trifled.
1673 J. Milton Psalm IV in Poems (new ed.) 134 Things false and vain and nothing else but lies?
1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans I. 123 Have you nothing else to do but cleaning the books?
a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (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 Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. vi. 138 Where these great beds [of cardoon] occur, nothing else can live.
1869 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 2nd Ser. 42 Sin is nothing else than moral evil.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables iv. 50 How do you know but that it hurts a geranium's feelings just to be called a geranium and nothing else?
1994 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 20 Oct. 63/1 The search for knowledge really is nothing else but a kind of power-seeking.
c. nothing if not: above all.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [phrase] > most important
nothing if nota1616
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
nothing if nota1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (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 Newsp. Press Direct. 77 The critical (musical) department..is..nothing if not meagre.
1874 J. Parker Paraclete i. xi. 175 Christianity is nothing, if not spiritual.
1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. xvii. 197 He was never precipitate; he was nothing if not discreet.
1915 C. P. Gilman Herland in Forerunner 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 Satan Bug viii. 116 The departing owners had been nothing if not thorough when it had come to the removal of their goods and chattels.
1991 San Francisco Rev. Bks. Fall 19/1 Mailer is nothing if not the supreme liberal.
d. nothing (else) for it: no alternative. Cf. for prep. 12b.
ΚΠ
1696 T. Southerne Oroonoko 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 Play is Plot 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 Pamela III. xvi. 78 So that, between one and t'other, a poor Girl has nothing for it, but a few Weeks Courtship.
1792 Elvina I. 74 They were prepared to banter me, so I had nothing for it but downright impudence.
1836 C. Shaw Let. 9 May in Personal Mem. & Corr. (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 Fors Clavigera V. lv. 196 Hansli had nothing for it but to obey.
1912 J. Conrad Secret Sharer i, in 'Twixt Land & Sea 127 There was nothing else for it. He had to sit still on a small folding stool.
1949 ‘M. Innes’ Journeying Boy xxiii. 285 There was nothing for it but a quick get-away and a going underground for good.
1992 Gourmet Sept. 142/1 There was nothing for it but to remind ourselves that nature's outbursts were part of the adventure.
P2. for nothing.
†a. For no consideration; on no account; by no means. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [adverb] > no > certainly not
for nothinglOE
not (to do something) for the worlda1375
for foul or fairc1405
not for a moment1785
not on your life1791
not for Joe (Joseph)1844
no siree1845
not much1871
a thousand times, no1896
not on your tintype1900
not for all the tea in China1937
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (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 Brut (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 Middle Eng. Metrical Romances (1930) 288 (MED) Þer nas no man..Þat miȝte..in iustes for noþing Him out of his sadel bring.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 11149 Of hir ne wald he for nathing, Lai of hordome mistruing.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) 1853 I wol not have noo forgyft for nothing.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Merlin (1904) I. l. 2562 (MED) And it be so..thanne wolde j that ȝe hym slowen for non thing.
c1475 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (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) Long Charter of Christ, B Text (Cambr. Ff) 78 (MED) Y schall for noþyng lese þe noȝt, ffor y wold dye for thy folye.
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 258 But there present he would not bee for nothing.
b. In vain; to no effect; for no result. Also all for nothing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > in vain [phrase]
in (or on) idlenessc825
in (earlier on, an) idlec1000
in idleshipa1250
in vaina1300
over tomeheda1300
(all) for noughtc1300
in waste1340
in deveyn(ec1400
to little availc1450
without availc1450
in fruster1488
to good (also great, some, little, no, etc.) purpose1525
for nothing1560
sans fail1597
for vaina1616
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. lxxx Leste they shoulde appeere to haue commen thyther for nothyng.
1580 A. Saker Narbonus ii. 111 If patiente sometime to beare, rather than to make a brabbling for nothing, then is he a milkesop.
1600 N. Breton Strange Fortunes Two Excellent Princes 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 Clarissa 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 Chapter of Accidents v. 93 I shall run distracted! have I married an—and all for nothing too?
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice III. xiii. 233 I was sure you could not be so beautiful for nothing . View more context for this quotation
1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel III. lvi. 163 I was ashamed... I had given you so much trouble all for nothing.
1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep iii. 45 He knew the ropes... He wasn't a business man for nothing.
1987 R. Hall Kisses of Enemy (1990) iii. lxii. 375 The Wild Dog smiled tensely: If they see what I've done it will all have been for nothing.
c. Without payment or cost; free, gratuitously. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > charges > freedom from charge > [adverb]
freelyc1330
(all) for nought1535
at (formerly also for, of, on, upon) free cost1542
for nothing1569
without price1611
freea1631
free cost1648
gratuitously1717
buckshee1918
1569 T. Blague Schole of Wise Conceytes 13 If thou haue hyred these Priestes to sing, why arte thou angry with mee that sing for nothing?
a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. D3 I can make thee druncke with ipocrase at any taberne in Europe for nothing.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (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 Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 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 Satires p. xl To do any thing for nothing, was not his Maxim.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews 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 Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. 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 Aesthetic Papers 204 He was quite..contented, since he got his board for nothing.
1886 D. C. Murray Cynic Fortune xii There was not a woman of them who would not have done his clear-starching for nothing.
1902 H. James Wings of Dove II. iv. i. 178 Nobody here, you know, does anything for nothing.
1985 New Yorker 30 Dec. 23/3 Hitler was no gardener. I'll tell you that for nothing.
d. For no reason; causelessly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adverb] > without cause or reason
causelessc1374
self-willya1400
of self-willa1450
causelessly1561
for nothing1592
(all) for nought1607
reasonlessly1612
reasonlessa1652
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (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 Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iv. 128 Will you be bound for nothing ? View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iv. i. 145 I will weepe for nothing, like Diana in the Fountaine. View more context for this quotation
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. viii. 169 He who will be angry for any thing, will be angry for nothing.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 267 My Governess rattled and made a great noise..that she should be used thus for nothing.
1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. 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 Wuthering Heights I. ix. 186 What a noise for nothing!.. What a trifle scares you!
1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson iv. 52 ‘Tom’ was a bad baby... He would cry for nothing.
1955 M. Wheeler Still Digging ix. 152 Not for nothing was the admirably flamboyant Highland Division..known to its envious friends as the Highway Decorators.
1978 K. J. Dover Greek Homosexuality ii. 107 It is not for nothing that Aiskhines attaches such importance..to the power of rumour and gossip.
P3. In adverb use. nothing so: not so at all. Now Caribbean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > not > not at all
noughteOE
nothingOE
nonewaysc1225
not a dealc1250
nothing soa1393
no-gatea1400
no-gatesa1400
no waya1400
nowaysa1400
riff no raff?a1400
in (also on, by) no kins way(s) (or wise)c1400
nowisec1425
no whitc1520
none1533
never a dysec1540
vengeance1556
in no sort1561
none ofc1571
nil1581
none1651
nowhat1651
nohow1775
du tout1824
nowt1828
nix1862
nary1895
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (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) Tale King Edward & Shepherd (Cambr.) (1930) 419 (MED) Þen seid þe scheperde, ‘Noþing soo! I con a game worthe þei twoo.’
c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. L v But many folys thynke it is nothynge so.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Hippocrates in Panoplie Epist. 275 As if Democritus had bene outragious indeede: who was nothing so.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 139 In the spring-time it is nothing so.
1642 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. xxiii. 91 When some replyed, That the soules of men were immortall..hee..swore, that he thought it nothing so.
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra iv. iv. §24 Some may think of Jael, that..she was no better than a Trapanning Hussy. But nothing so.
1874 J. R. Lowell Agassiz iv. ii Our social monotone of level days, Might make our best seem banishment; But it was nothing so.
1890 J. R. Lowell Writings 115 Our social monotone of level days, Might make our best seem banishment; But it was nothing so.
1996 R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage (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.
P4. In proverbs and proverbial expressions. Esp. in nothing ventured, nothing gained and variants (frequently formerly nothing venture, nothing have): you cannot expect to achieve anything if you never take any risks. [Compare Middle French Qui onques rien n'enprist riens n'achieva (Froissart, late 14th cent.).]
ΚΠ
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) ii. 808 He which that nothing undertaketh, Nothyng n'acheveth, be hym looth or deere.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccccxiii. 722 Sir..he that nothyng aduentureth nothynge getteth.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xii. sig. F Where as nothyng is, the kyng must lose his ryght.
1555 J. Heywood Two Hundred Epigrammes with Thyrde sig. B.iiiv Where nothyng is, a lyttle thyng doth ease. Where althyng is, nothyng can fully please.
1559 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) at Fortis Fortune foretherethe bolde aduenturers, nothyng venture, nothyng haue.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 20v This Prouerbe,..that nothing who practiseth, nothing shall haue.
1602 N. Breton Wonders Worth Hearing sig. C2v With that the young man replyed: oh sir, nothing venter nothing haue.
1614 Cocks in Cal. Colonial Papers, E. Indies 342 As the saying is, nothing seek nothing find.
1668 C. Sedley Mulberry-garden iii. ii Who ever caught any thing with a naked hook? Nothing venture, nothing win.
a1704 T. Brown To Author in Duke of Buckingham Wks. (1705) II. ii. 97 Thou know'st the Proverb: Nothing due for naught.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1777 II. 166 I am, however, generally for trying, ‘Nothing venture, nothing have’.
1841 R. W. Emerson Ess. 1st Ser. (Boston ed.) iii. 90 Nothing venture, nothing have.
1869 E. Marshall Two Margarets iii. 48 ‘Nothing venture nothing get,’ was the end of her meditation.
1885 Cent. Mag. 29 186/2 ‘Nothing venture, nothing have,’ Betty replied saucily.
1915 C. P. Gilman in Forerunner Feb. 41/1 ‘Nothing venture, nothing have,’ I suggested, but Terry preferred ‘Faint heart ne'er won fair lady’.
1930 H. Crane Let. 13 July (1965) 353 But ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’—and I can't help thinking that my mistake may warn others.
1957 R. Downing All change Here (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 Independent 31 Mar. 28/4 Nothing ventured, nothing gained, is my motto.
P5. In adverb use.
a. nothing like. (a) With noun: not at all like, not resembling at all; also †nothing like to (obsolete); (b) In other constructions: not by any means, not nearly. Cf. anything like at anything pron., n., and adv. Phrases 2, something like at something adv. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [phrase] > totally different
nothing like?a1425
as like as an apple to an oyster1533
eyes and (also or) no eyes1656
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > not at all
never-a-dealc1250
no dealc1250
not a dealc1250
no grue13..
not a (one) grue13..
for no (kin) meedc1330
in (also by and without preposition) no mannerc1330
nothing like?a1425
by no (manner of) means (also mean)c1440
at no handa1500
never, not (etc.) a whit (awhit, a-whit)1523
not a quincha1566
by leisure1590
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 150 (MED) Þe stenche þer of is no þinge liche to þe stenche of a canker.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 3023 Hir woys was..nothyng lyke a mannys voise in soun.
a1549 A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (1870) 133 Not of that effycacyte as is spoken of, nor nothing like.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries 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 Wks. I. 41 This Gentleman do's it, rarely too! but nothing like the other.
a1649 W. Drummond Poet. Wks. (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 Eng. Rogue 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 Madam de Beaumont i. 238 Our homely Cell, indeed, is nothing like the splendid Places I have heard you talk of.
1782 E. Blower George Bateman III. 111 [She sits her horse] nothing like so well as you used to do.
1815 Zeluca I. 194 Nothing like so excellent as your epigrammatic translation.
1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux II. xxxi. 256 An entry into the borough so triumphant that nothing like to it had ever been known at Tankerville.
1910 Encycl. Brit. 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 Ordinary Families ii. 34 The Cottrells were nothing like ready, to father's annoyance.
1991 J. C. Oates Heat & Other Stories 62 Mrs. Dietrich looked nothing like the extraordinary woman in Rossetti's painting.
b. nothing near: not nearly, nowhere near. Cf. near adv.2 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [adverb] > not nearly or far from being
near1447
nowhere near (also nigh)c1449
nothing less?1520
nothing near1581
nothing nigh1743
nearly1745
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) i. 5 b Your courteous good will maketh you go beyond the trueth,..which commeth nothing neere to that you spake of.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Ezek. xlviii. Comm. The terrestrial citie of Jerusalem..was nothing nere so large.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 59 This was no great state (nothing neere Naamans).
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 25 Not much inferior to the other, but nothing near so large.
1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful i. §13. 23 The influence of reason in producing our passions is nothing near so extensive as is commonly believed.
1814 M. Edgeworth Patronage I. ix. 273 Miss Petcalf is nothing near so dark as Mrs. Carneguy, surely.
1874 B. P. Shillaber Lines in Pleasant Places 119 Things then were nothing near as slow As they appear in our romances.
a1966 D. Schwartz Summer Knowl. (1967) 87 To our perspective, nothing near, The moving pins lack actuality.
1991 E. R. Taylor Tomorrow (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.
†c. nothing as much: nowhere near as. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
a1619 Lady A. Clifford Diaries (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’.
a. nothing on earth and variants. Cf. like nothing on earth at Phrases 18.
ΚΠ
1494 Lydgate's Falle of Princis (Pynson) iii. sig. lvv/2 To their noblesse..No thinge in erth was more expedient.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxxii[i]. 25 There is nothinge vpon earth, that I desyre in comparison of the.
1629 J. Mede Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 283 In Queen Elizabeth's days, when nothing on earth was surer than Chequer pay.
1680 Don Tomazo 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 Wks. (1872) II. 496 Nothing on the postdiluvian earth could be more pleasant than the road from hence.
1793 T. Jefferson Let. 9 June in Papers (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 Frankenstein III. v. 100 Nothing on earth will have the power to interrupt my tranquillity.
1953 B. Boland Return in Plays of Year 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 Primary Colors 103 Nothing on earth has eyes as dangerously memorable, as soft and unsleeping a steel yellow, as the Alaskan Grey Wolf.
b. nothing in the world.
ΚΠ
OE Seven Sleepers (Julius) (1994) 39 Us nan þingc on worulde fram Gode ne gehremme.]
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 269 (MED) He shall so be deffouled that ther ne shall nothinge in the worlde hym warantise.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. 244 Nothing in the world could worse haue becomen them.
1638 J. Kirke Seven Champions of Christendome 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 20 Sel. Colloquies (new ed.) v. 53 The Broth was nothing in the world but Water bewitched.
1748 H. Walpole Let. 26 May (1846) II. 256 I meant nothing in the world by wild, but the thoughtlessness of a boy of nineteen.
1784 H. Cowley More Ways than One iii. 44 There is nothing in the world I wish for so much.
1840 O. W. Holmes in W. C. Bryant Landmark Anthologies 227 We've nothing in the world to do But just to walk about.
1898 H. James Turn of Screw iii, in Two Magics 26 His indescribable little air of knowing nothing in the world but love.
1907 J. Conrad Secret Agent viii. 229 Poor Stevie had nothing in the world he could call his own except his mother's heroism and unscrupulousness.
1996 Premiere Feb. 83/1 There's nothing in the world as bad as a bad drunk act.
P7. to be nothing to.
a. To be of no consequence, importance, or relevance to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
c1520 tr. Terence Andria i. ii, in Terens in Eng. sig. A.viv Before this what he hath done is nothing to me truly.
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health 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 Wks. II The getting of this Licence is nothing to me, without other circumstances concurre.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Coronation Solyman 90 in Trav. Persia 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 Epist. & Panegyrick I. vi. xvi. 287 But this is nothing to the History, and you desir'd no Information, but upon his Death.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 139 He was the universe to me, and all that was not him, was nothing to me.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice 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 Mark Rutherford's Deliv. iv. 65 She had learned that she was nothing specially to him.
1917 E. Wharton Summer 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 Washington Post 20 Apr. g3/4 Chicago's history and old Comiskey are nothing to Bo.
b. To be insignificant or worthless compared to.
ΚΠ
1595 W. Warner tr. Plautus Menaecmi 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 Lenten Stuffe 16 This common good within it selfe, is nothing to the common good it communicats to the whole state.
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love 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 Newes from Italy Ep. Ded. sig. A2v But all this is nothing to that which they both suffred for their conscience.
1694 J. Collier Misc. v. 71 A new way of extracting the Spirit of Happiness; the Chymistry of a Bee is nothing to it.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones 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 Life G. Morris (1832) I. 415 Our old Congress was nothing to this Convention.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility 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 Serm. XXIII. 77 Self is an unpleasant object for study. Anatomy is nothing to it.
1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xxiv. 279 When I was a girl there was a bad storm, but it was nothing to this.
1984 I. Doig Eng. Creek (1985) i. 44 Pulling a lamb from a ewe's womb is nothing to untangling a leggy calf from the inside of a heifer.
c. colloquial. (there is) nothing to it: it is very easy to do; there is no difficulty involved. Cf. (there is) nothing in it at Phrases 15.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > easy, easily, or without difficulty [phrase] > easy to do
(there is) nothing to it1933
no sweat1951
no problem1955
no probs (also prob)1974
1933 E. O'Neill Ah, Wilderness! i. 24 I know there's nothing to it, anyway.
1951 H. Wouk Caine Mutiny 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. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) II. xli. 268 See, nothing to it, he's not such a toughy.
1985 T. O'Brien Nucl. Age iii. 43 Nothing to it... Just level with the man.
P8. to come to nothing: to have no significant or successful result or effect in the end; to fail, to amount to nothing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)] > collapse or come to nothing
forworthc1000
folda1250
quailc1450
fruster?a1513
to come to nothing1523
to give out?1523
to fall to the ground?1526
quealc1530
to come to, end in, vanish into, smoke1604
intercide1637
to fall to dirt1670
to go off1740
to fall through1770
to fall apart1833
collapse1838
to run into the sand (also, now less commonly, sands)1872
to blow up1934
to blow out1939
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. f. cclixv/2 At last all came to nothynge.
c1585 R. Browne Answere to Cartwright 5 All Master Cartwrights arguments falleth from one to one, till it come to nothing at all.
1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis v. x. 364 Her promises came to nothing.
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. i. 14 Nor was it his fault that it came to nothing.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 237 All my Fancies and Schemes came to nothing.
1769 tr. L. Spallanzani Ess. Animal Reprod. 40 As to the unfecundated eggs, they only spoil, dissolve, and come to nothing.
1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park II. ii. 44 His falling in love with Julia had come to nothing.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Nov. 3/3 The perennial talk of an ivory famine has as yet come to nothing.
1932 Times 4 Jan. 5/2 Repeated passing moves, testing punts ahead, and forward rushes by South Africa all came to nothing.
1956 N. Coward Diary 11 July (2000) 327 I shall be hopping mad if..the whole business comes to nothing.
2010 Private Eye 28 May 31/1 All their efforts came to nothing.
P9. In adverb use. [Perhaps partly an inversion of worth nothing.] nothing worth: of no value. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 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 Trewnesse Christian Relig. xviii. 330 Who knoweth not that thing to be nothing worth, that is given for nought?
1619 R. West Schoole of Vertue: 2nd Pt. sig. B2 To belch or bulch..Commendeth manners to be base, most foule and nothing worth.
1654 T. Fuller Triana (1664) ii. 180 Mustard is nothing worth unless it bite.
1727 W. Mather Young Man's Compan. (ed. 13) 70 Some Rich Men over-valued, tho' nothing worth.
1767 R. Warner Captives iii. i. 290 Buffoons they now Count nothing worth.
a1834 S. T. Coleridge Specimens of Table Talk (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 Poems (new ed.) II. 138 A life of nothings, nothing-worth.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd (ed. 2) I. xxii. 252 A strange old piece, goodmen—whirled about from here to yonder, as if I were nothing worth.
1927 Observer 11 Dec. 10/4 Miss Jenkins's diary..is nothing worth in itself.
1968 A. J. Arberry tr. Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī Mystical Poems xxviii. 27 To such a one the most limpid fountains are nothing worth.
P10. nothing to do with: no connection or involvement with, (of) no relevance to. Usually in to have (got) nothing to do with: to have no dealings or connection with; to be unrelated or irrelevant to. Cf. do v. Phrases 1b(a)(i).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > non-relation > have no relation with [verb (transitive)]
to have (got) nothing to do with1567
to have no concern (formerly also concerns) with1680
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure 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 50 Godlie Serm. 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 King Lear vii. 31 Away, I haue nothing to doe with thee. View more context for this quotation
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding 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 Family Instructor I. i. iv. 101 I'll have nothing to do with it.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones 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 Persuasion (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 Far from Madding Crowd II. iii. 39 But that's nothing to do with mistress!
1881 A. Trollope Dr. Wortle's School 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 Susan Lenox (1917) II. vi. 146 No thank you. I want nothing to do with it.
1952 W. Goyen Ghost & Flesh 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 Big Issue 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.
P11. nothing much: not a great amount; nothing significant, nothing of importance.
ΚΠ
1597 H. Lok Ecclesiastes 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 Hectors i. i. 3 For my part, I saw him do nothing much absurd.
1816 T. Morton Slave iii. i. 55 Miss Von Frump has looked me over, found nothing much amiss as to shape and action.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 22 Dec. 4/1 Matters are looking up. Still there is nothing much to sing about on our part even now.
1932 ‘F. Iles’ Before the Fact i. v. 77 ‘Well, anyhow, what are you doing with yourself.’.. ‘Oh, tooling around, you know. Nothing much.’
1982 Trailer Life Feb. 37/1 But when it encounters a three-to four-percent grade, more throttle is applied and nothing much happens.
2000 M. Gayle Turning Thirty 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.
a. all to nothing: by the largest possible margin or odds; to the fullest extent. it is all to nothing: it is almost certain, odds on; cf. ten to one at ten adj., n., and adv. Phrases 2. Now only in Phrases 12b.
ΘΚΠ
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
never solOE
with (also mid) the mostc1275
for the masteryc1325
to the bestc1390
to the uttermostc1400
at the hardest1429
to the utmostc1450
to the skies (also sky)1559
at float1594
all to nothing1606
to the height1609
to the proofa1625
to the last degree1639
to the welkin?1746
(the) worst kind1839
for all it's worth1864
as —— as they make them?a1880
in the highest1897
to the nth (degree, power)1897
up to eleven1987
1606 Wily Beguilde 67 Faith Sir, its all to nothing but your daughter and M. Churms are gone both one way.
1685 N. Boteler Six Dialogues Sea-services 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 Belphegor 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 Artifice 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 Pamela IV. viii. 53 And has carry'd his Point all to nothing, as the Racing Gentlemen say.
1777 H. L. Thrale Diary June in Thraliana (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 Beggar Girl I. ix. 260 Why a voyage to India was all to nothing a better venture than marriage.
a1818 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. India Proprietor (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 Thomas Davis (1890) viii. 354 The ‘Ballad Poetry of Ireland’ is admirable. It is all to nothing the best edited collection I ever saw.
b. to beat (all) to nothing: to beat or surpass convincingly or by a large margin. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > outdoing or surpassing > outdo or surpass [verb (transitive)] > surpass or beat
whip1571
overmaster1627
to give (one) fifteen and a bisque1664
to beat (all) to nothing1768
beatc1800
bang1808
to beat (also knock) all to sticks1820
floga1841
to beat (a person, a thing) into fits1841
to beat a person at his (also her, etc.) own game1849
to knock (the) spots off1850
lick1890
biff1895
to give a stone and a beating to1906
to knock into a cocked hat1965
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 175 Christians..beat us all to nothing in honour and humanity.
1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 263 If the Gods had made you poetical I should have beat Swift's Sacharissa all to nothing.
1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) I. 173 Our Opera..and our balls at Almack's beat them to nothing.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers 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 Inimitable Jeeves 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.
†P13. to have nothing in one: to be foolish, vacuous, or worthless. Obsolete.Applied esp. to a vain or outwardly important person.
ΚΠ
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Honest Mans Fortune v. iii, in Comedies & Trag. (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 Martyr'd Souldier (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 Misc. I. 246 A Fellow, whom all the World knew to have Nothing in him.
1745 C. Cibber Papal Tyranny 71 O! what Enjoyment to a modern Sinner, To have it prov'd at last—she'd nothing in her!
1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 12 Though those big-wigs have really nothing in them, they look very formidable.
1873 T. Hardy Pair of Blue Eyes 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.
P14. to have nothing on: to be naked or unclothed. Also with nothing on: wearing no clothing, naked. Usually with but (or except, save) before 20th cent.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [verb (intransitive)]
i-hwulena1250
vakec1485
to have nothing on1678
leisure1928
chill1985
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > nakedness or state of being unclothed > [adverb]
naked as a worm?a1366
nakedlyc1425
to the skin?1518
in one's (pure) naturals1579
in puris naturalibus1581
unclothedlya1626
puris naturalibus1626
with nothing on1678
uncoveredly1683
in the buff1803
Adamically1860
in the (also one's) altogether1894
in the raw1941
in the nuddy1953
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > [verb (transitive)] > have no advantage over
to have nothing on1678
1678 J. Phillips Maronides 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 Oroonoko 151 'Tis all in white Armor so joynted, that it moves as well in it, as if it had nothing on.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Provok'd Wife 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 Tom Jones 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 Two Years before Mast xxxi. 373 We had nothing on but thin clothes, yet there was not a moment to spare.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It 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 Strand Mag. May 520/2 He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxxviii. 178 A woman appeared with practically nothing on.
1961 Washington Post 17 May A3/6 Miss Mason was lying on the floor with nothing on except the scantiest of brassieres.
1971 E. Paul Reluctant Cloak & Dagger Man xi. 137 We always swam here with nothing on.
1991 J. Diski Happily ever After xii. 143 He had nothing on; no habit, no sandals, nothing. He walked the cloisters starkers.
P15. (there is) nothing in it.
a. (There is) no truth in the matter or report; (there is) no feature of interest or value to be gained from the subject or activity specified.
ΚΠ
1702 R. Steele Funeral 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 Sganarel 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 Widow'd Wife v. ii. 79 Disinherited him! says he, an idle story, Sift, an idle story, there is nothing in it.
1826 Wilhelmina i. i. 6 As for my head's being turned, I tell you what, sir, there's nothing in it.
1873 A. Trollope Eustace Diamonds 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 Billy's Little Love Affair (?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 Susan Lenox (1917) II. vi. 157 None of our class of girls do any robbing. There's nothing in it. You get caught.
1982 M. Binchy Light Penny Candle ii. xii. 271 I said there was nothing in it, I was only repeating eejity old things.
b. = (there is) nothing to it at Phrases 7c. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife 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 Tomkis's Albumazar (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 News from Parnassus 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 Nicholas Nickleby xix. 179 ‘Why not, my dear?’ replied Ralph... ‘It is done in a moment; there is nothing in it.’
1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air 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.’
c. colloquial (chiefly British). (There is) no significant difference between specified things; spec. there is no significant advantage between competitors in a sport, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > the same [phrase] > there is no difference
six‥and half-a-dozen1836
not much, little, etc., in it1907
(there is) nothing in it1927
1927 Observer 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 Dict. Clichés (ed. 4) 156 Nothing in it, esp., there's nothing..(there is no appreciable—or important—difference).
1960 H. Pinter Caretaker 34 Dead spit of you he was. Bit bigger round the nose but there was nothing in it.
2002 Sunday Star-Times (Auckland) (Nexis) 21 Apr. (Sport section) 3 There's nothing in it and this race is still there to be won.
P16. Sailing. nothing off: an order to keep a vessel sailing close to the wind.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > steering > [phrase] > order to keep close to wind
nothing off1801
1801 J. J. Moore Brit. Mariner's Vocab. 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 Naut. Dict. at Near Nothing off! is an order not to let her fall off from the wind.
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (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 Dict. Sailing 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.
P17. colloquial. no nothing: absolutely nothing, nothing at all.Frequently used at the end of a list for emphasis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [phrase] > nothing, no one, not any
never onec1175
never ac1300
never kinsc1300
no kinsc1350
for odd or evenc1425
never anyc1522
penny nor paternoster1528
never a one1534
not a soul1568
neither top nor toe1610
no flesh1663
neither horn nor hoof1664
no sort of‥1736
no nothing1815
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > nothing > nothing at all
noughtOE
neither tip nor toe1610
nix1781
damn the haet1787
no nothing1815
zero1823
all1842
neither hide nor hair1857
zip1900
nixie1906
damn all1910
fuck-all1916
Fanny Adams1919
bugger-all1921
S.F.A.1933
not a sausage1938
shit1949
zilch1956
eff-all1958
sod all1958
diddly-squat1963
diddly1964
jack-all1965
niente1969
zippo1973
feck-all1975
hee-haw1975
naff all1977
jack squat1986
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility 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 Wellington—Years of Sword (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 Monikins III. iv. 93 In this happy land, there was no registration, no passports, ‘no nothin’—as Mr. Poke pointedly expressed it.
1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 516/2 There is no store, no post-office, no sidewalked street,—no nothing.
1905 R. Kipling Actions & Reactions (1909) 8 ‘No roads, no nothing!’ said Sophie.
1968 Washington Post 21 Sept. a12/1 His appeal is to racial animosity, no-nothing policies.
1993 H. Stern Private Parts xii. 327 We rented a room in a motel..and watched the game. No girls, no nothing. All we did was watch the game.
P18. like nothing on earth (and variants): extremely strange or outlandish; extraordinary, esp. in an unpleasant or wretched way; inconceivably awful.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > abnormality > abnormal [phrase]
like nothing on earth1861
from outer space1961
clockwork orange1963
1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne 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 Psmith in City xviii. 158 Master Edward Waller..in frocks, looking like a gargoyle;..in sailor suit, looking like nothing on earth.
1923 A. Christie Murder on Links xxvi. 286 She looked like nothing on God's earth.
1942 P. Larkin Let. 13 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 49 I've had a day or so in bed feeling like nothing on earth..no appetite etc.
1974 M. G. Eberhart Danger Money (1975) iv. 39 ‘What's he like?’ ‘Nothing on earth... I wouldn't trust him with a nickel.’
1993 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (BNC) 9 Jan. 136 It looks like smoked salmon and tastes like nothing on earth.
P19. U.S. colloquial. (as) slick (also soft, etc.) as nothing at all: very quickly (softly, etc.). rare.
ΚΠ
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xl. 344 Done it just as slick as nothing at all.
2000 J. Lent In the Fall i. 29 She walked a mannered step through to the closed parlor and shut the door behind her soft as nothing at all.
P20. colloquial. you ain't seen (also heard) nothing yet: however extreme or impressive something may appear now, it will be surpassed by what comes later.
ΚΠ
1919 A. Jolson & G. Kahn You ain't heard Nothing Yet 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 You ain't seen Nothing Yet (song) 2 ‘Ev'ry dog's gonna have his day’—So just watch me 'cause You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.
1975 Economist (Nexis) 22 Mar. 96 Britain can count itself lucky. Compared with other countries, ‘we ain't seen nothing yet’.
1993 T. Parker May Lord in His Mercy be Kind to Belfast (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.
P21. North American colloquial. in nothing flat: in no time, very quickly.
ΚΠ
1936 V. McHugh Caleb Catlum's Amer. 163 Suddenly he give a yell, covered 'bout half a mile in nothing flat and I see him stoop down.
1969 A. McCaffrey Ship who Sang 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 Drawing Line 82 Hiroshi loaded up the truck in nothing flat.

Compounds

C1. General attributive, esp. designating something insignificant, worthless, or dull; (occasionally also) designating an elegant and unobtrusive item of clothing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective]
toyous1581
unpregnant1604
unconcerning1612
immomenta1616
importlessa1616
nothinga1616
unmomentary1624
unimportingc1625
unessential1634
matterlessa1650
inconcerning1650
nugacious1652
of good, bad, etc., consequence1654
immomentary1662
immomentous1726
unmomentous1735
unimportant1750
unconsequential1769
inconsequential1782
nothingless1822
small fry1828
uninterest1890
non-entitious1952
nothingburger1965
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > other
smalleOE
lightc1230
round1402
side-necked1430
wanton1489
Spanish1530
tucked1530
lustya1555
civil1582
open-breasted1598
full1601
everlasting1607
sheeten1611
nothinga1616
burly1651
pin-up1677
slouching1691
double-breasted1701
negligée1718
translated1727
uniform1746
undress1777
single-breasted1796
unworn1798
mamalone1799
costumic1801
safeguard1822
Tom and Jerry1830
lightweight1837
fancy dress1844
wrap-1845
hen-skin1846
Mary Stuart1846
well-cut1849
mousquetaire1851
empire1852
costumary1853
solid1859
spring weight1869
Henri II1870
western1881
hard-boiled1882
man-of-war1883
Henley1886
demi-season1890
Gretchen1890
toreador1892
crossover1893
French cut1896
drifty1897
boxy1898
Buster Brown1902
Romney1903
modistic1907
Peter Pan1908
classic1909
Fauntleroy1911
baby doll1912
flared1928
flare1929
tuck-in1929
unpressed1932
Edwardian1934
swingy1937
topless1937
wraparound1937
dressed-down1939
cover-up1942
Sun Yat-sen1942
utility1942
non-utility1948
sudsable1951
off-the-shoulder1953
peasant1953
flareless1954
A-line1955
matador1955
stretch1956
wash-and-wear1959
layered1962
Tom Jones1964
Carnaby Street1965
Action Man1966
Mao-style1967
wear-dated1968
thermal1970
bondage1980
swaggery1980
hoochie1990
mitumba1990
kinderwhore1994
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of no note or ordinary
nothinga1616
nondescript1776
obscurity1822
unnotable1860
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (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 Antidote against Arminianism 95 Unconverted Men are things that are not, Nothing-Creatures.
1847 A. Smith Stuck-up People (ed. 4) 22 Cups, and saucers, and miniatures; inkstands,..and papier-mâché nothing-cases.
1961 Time (Atlantic ed.) 18 Aug. 60 All these beautiful people with nothing faces.
1965 Vogue Aug. 43/2 Little ‘nothing’ sweaters and shirts for wearing with suits.
1971 Sunday Times 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 Ground beneath her Feet (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)
† nothing-saying n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. viii. 160 After a period of nothing-saying amongst the party. View more context for this quotation
(b)
† nothing-doing adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [adjective]
sweerc725
foridledc1230
idlea1300
faintc1325
recrayed1340
slewful1340
nicea1398
sleuthya1400
delicate?c1400
sleuthfulc1400
slothfulc1400
sloth1412
lurdanc1480
luskinga1500
luskish15..
droning1509
bumbard?a1513
slottery1513
desidiousa1540
lazy1549
slovening1549
truanta1550
sleuth1567
litherly1573
truantly1579
dronish1580
lubberly1580
truant-like1583
shiftless1584
sluggard1594
fat1598
lusky1604
sweatless1606
clumse1611
easeful1611
loselly1611
do-littlea1613
sluggardisha1627
pigritious1638
drony1653
murcid1656
thokisha1682
shammockinga1704
indolent1710
huddroun1721
nothing-doing1724
desidiose1727
lusk1775
slack-twisted1794
sweert1817
bone-lazya1825
lurgy1828
straight-backed1830
do-nothing1832
slobbish1833
bone idle1836
slouch1837
lotophagous1841
shammocky1841
bein1847
thoky1847
lotus-eating1852
fainéant1855
sluggardly1865
lazy-boned1875
do-naught1879
easy-going1879
lazyish1892
slobbed1962
1724 D. Defoe Fortunate Mistress 115 Yet this Nothing-doing Wretch was I oblig'd to watch and guard against.
1773 A. Grant Let. 2 May in Lett. from Mountains (1806) I. 49 The incursions of these nothing doing people.
1842 W. Wordsworth Borderers in Poet. Wks. (1849–50) i. 69 Belike some Shepherd-boy, Who might have found a nothing-doing hour Heavier than work, raised it.
† nothing fearing adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1594 Edmond Ironside (1991) ii. iii. 81 These nothinge fearinge hotspures that attend Our Royall Courte.
† nothing-meaning adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1734 Tit for Tat Epist. 9 Each blockhead may compose This nothing-meaning verse, as fast as prose.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa II. vi. 29 Your mamma will not be permitted to be disturbed with your nothing-meaning Vocatives!
1816 J. Austen Emma 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
† nothing-plotting adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Apr. 385/2 Nothing-plotting, nought-caballing, unmischievous synod!
† nothing-understanding adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1667 Direct. to Painter 36 The mad shout Of a poor nothing-understanding Rout.
b.
† nothing-do n. Obsolete a person who does nothing, a layabout.Apparently only in the works of the Church of England clergyman Thomas Adams (1583–1652).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person
caynard1303
sluggard1398
luskc1420
slugc1425
truantc1449
dawa1500
hummel?a1513
rook?a1513
wallydraigle?a1513
sloven1523
dronea1529
draw latch1538
slim1548
slouk1570
do-nothing1579
bumbiea1585
do-little1586
lazybones1593
luskin1593
do-naught1594
loiter-sack1594
bed-presser1598
lazy lizard1600
lazy-back1611
fainéant1618
nothing-do1623
trivant1624
slothful1648
lolpoop1661
tool1699
haggis1822
lazy-boots1832
lazy-legs1838
poke1847
never-sweat1851
slob1876
bum1882
haggis bag1892
lollop1896
trouble-shirker1908
warb1933
fuck-off1948
poop-butt1967
1623 T. Adams Barren Tree 48 What innumerable swarmes of nothing does beleaguer this Citie?
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 10) 729 Droves of beggars, profest cyphers, nothing-does that swarme about this Citie.
C3. As the first element of various phrases in hyphenated form, used attributively or (chiefly with a suffix) forming nouns.
ΚΠ
1778 G. L. Way Learning at Loss I. 79 That Kind of Ennuyant Nothing-to-do-ishness which is worse than all the Rest.
1794 S. T. Coleridge Lett. (1895) 72 Gloucester is a nothing-to-be-said-about town.
1812 G. Colman Poet. Vagaries 136 These practical, nothing-so-easy Jokers.
1828 Lights & Shades Eng. Life I. 210 Let him be bound apprentice to a nothing-to-do man.
1878 H. Wright Mental Trav. 143 An abyss of commonplace or nothing-in-lifeism.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms 126 One of those nothing-particular-looking old chaps.
1906 All-story Mag. (U.S.) Aug. 593/1 The nothing-doingness of things in general outside the office.
1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 104 They passed an agreeable, casual, nothing-in-particular evening.
1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 16 A formless lumpish, nothing-in-particular.
1961 F. Lawrence Mem. & Corr. 80 Today she was in one of those cross, longing, nothing-is-right moods.
1994 New Scientist 30 July 46/3 The nothing-to-do-with-us approach that appears to be the hallmark of this government.

Derivatives

† nothingizing n. Obsolete reduction to nothing, obliteration.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > obscurity or ingloriousness > [noun] > making obscure or inglorious
nothinginga1645
nothingizing1834
obscuring1885
unpersoning1954
1834 S. T. Coleridge Marginalia (2000) V. 97 It is a discontinuity in descent—and a Nothingizing of the Female.
ˈnothingless adj. rare insignificant; non-existent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective]
toyous1581
unpregnant1604
unconcerning1612
immomenta1616
importlessa1616
nothinga1616
unmomentary1624
unimportingc1625
unessential1634
matterlessa1650
inconcerning1650
nugacious1652
of good, bad, etc., consequence1654
immomentary1662
immomentous1726
unmomentous1735
unimportant1750
unconsequential1769
inconsequential1782
nothingless1822
small fry1828
uninterest1890
non-entitious1952
nothingburger1965
1822 M. W. Shelley Let. 20 Dec. I have nothing else except my nothingless self to talk about.
1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith v. i. 278 The solar system would sink into a nothingless relation to us.
1994 J. Ceravolo Green Lake is Awake 76 That cry of Booze that sparrow of soul ‘miradel’ Unique justly lotus Nothingless char of sunday.
ˈnothingly adj. lacking value, significance, or substance; ineffective.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1802 F. Burney Jrnls. 22 Mar. (1975) V. 188 God knows how little I shall ever think of our losses, & how nothingly they are.
1833 New Monthly Mag. 38 158 How vain, how nothingly is the groaning and struggling, and the Truth and the Virtue of the world!
1938 E. E. Cummings Coll. Poems cccxi Quiveringly Spangle & thingless & before flashing soft neverwheres & Sweet nothingly gushing tinsel.
1998 Post & Courier (Charleston, S. Carolina) (Nexis) 28 May 1 I too may fade..feel my insides grow heated and empty, nothingly.
ˈnothingy adj. of no worth or importance; vapid, insubstantial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1801 Earl of Malmesbury Diaries & Corr. 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 Mem. (1875) III. xxii. 55 Parliament had opened the day before, with a long nothingy (a word I have coined) speech from the throne.
1990 N.Y. Mag. 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.

Brit. /ˈnʌθɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈnəθɪŋ/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nothing pron. and n.
Etymology: < nothing pron. and n.
rare.
transitive. To reduce to nothing; to consider or treat as worthless or unimportant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > annihilate or blot out of existence
dilghec897
defacec1386
annul1395
anientec1400
refer?c1400
extinct1484
annihil1490
delete1495
out-terma1500
perspoil1523
extaintc1540
extinguish1555
blot1561
wipe1564
to cut the throat of1565
annihilate1567
dissipatea1575
annihilate1586
nullify1609
nullize1615
expunge1628
nothing1637
null1647
extramund1654
be-nothing1674
erase1728
obliterate1798
simoom1821
to tear to shreds1837
snuff1852
mop1859
to take out1900
napoo1915
naught1958
1637 N. Whiting Le Hore di Recreatione 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 Theophila vii. xv. 97 Their Spiritual Natures would be nothing'd quite.
1970 T. Hughes Crow (1972) 40 Feeling spray from the sea's root nothinged on his crest Crow's toes gripped the wet pebbles.
1990 J. Gaskell Sun Bubble ii. 222 ‘You accuse your mother of patronising yuh, I take it.’ ‘She nothings me.’ ‘You nothing my brother.’

Derivatives

ˈnothinging n. rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > obscurity or ingloriousness > [noun] > making obscure or inglorious
nothinginga1645
nothingizing1834
obscuring1885
unpersoning1954
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) v. ii. 339 'Tis an abasement; (Madam) 'tis an humiliation; 'Tis such a prodigious nothinging of your selfe.
1948 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 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).
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pron.n.adv.int.OEv.1637
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