lost cause
noun
a cause that has been defeated or whose defeat is inevitable.
Origin of lost cause
First recorded in 1860–65
Words nearby lost cause
lossmaker,
lossmaking,
lossy,
lost,
lost and found,
lost cause,
lost colony,
lost generation,
lost in the shuffle,
lost in thought,
lost motion
Example sentences from the Web for lost cause
The feeling among those who represented the lost-cause, was intensely bitter and no Union soldier was safe anywhere in the South.
The History of Company A, Second Illinois Cavalry |Samuel H. Fletcher
British Dictionary definitions for lost cause
lost cause
noun
a cause with no chance of success
Idioms and Phrases with lost cause
lost cause
A hopeless undertaking, as in Trying to get him to quit smoking is a lost cause. In the 1860s this expression was widely used to describe the Confederacy. [Mid-1800s] Also see losing battle.