| 单词 | to be nothing to |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto be nothing to Phrasesalmost 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. 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. 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. 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. < as lemmas |
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