nothing

[ nuhth-ing ]

/ ˈnʌθ ɪŋ /

noun

no thing; not anything; naught: to say nothing.

no part, share, or trace (usually followed by of): The house showed nothing of its former magnificence.

something that is nonexistent.

nonexistence; nothingness: The sound faded to nothing.

something or someone of no importance or significance: Money is nothing when you're without health.

a trivial action, matter, circumstance, thing, or remark: to exchange a few nothings when being introduced.

a person of little or no importance; a nobody.

something that is without quantity or magnitude.

a cipher or naught: Nothing from nine leaves nine.

(used in conventional responses to expressions of thanks): Think nothing of it. It's nothing. Nothing to it.

adverb

in no respect or degree; not at all: It was nothing like that. Nothing dismayed, he repeated his question.

adjective

amounting to nothing, as in offering no prospects for satisfaction, advancement, or the like: She was stuck in a nothing job.

Idioms for nothing

for nothing,

free of charge.
for no apparent reason or motive.
futilely; to no avail: They had gone to a great deal of expense for nothing.

in nothing flat, in very little time: Dinner was finished in nothing flat.

make nothing of,

to treat lightly; regard as easy.
to be unsuccessful in comprehending: He could make nothing of the complicated directions.

nothing but, nothing other than; only: We could see nothing but fog.

nothing doing,

Informal. emphatically no; certainly not.
no activity, inducement, advantage, etc., present to the eye: We drove through the town but there seemed to be nothing doing.

nothing less than/short of, absolutely; completely: She was used to nothing less than the best.

think nothing of,

to treat casually.
to regard as insignificant: He thinks nothing of lying to conceal his incompetence.

Origin of nothing

before 900; Middle English; Old English nānthing, nathing; see no², thing¹

Words nearby nothing

notes, notes inégales, noteworthy, noteć, nother, nothing, nothing but, nothing doing, nothing if not, nothing like, nothing new under the sun

British Dictionary definitions for nothing short of

nothing

/ (ˈnʌθɪŋ) /

pronoun

(indefinite) no thing; not anything, as of an implied or specified class of things I can give you nothing

no part or share to have nothing to do with this crime

a matter of no importance or significance it doesn't matter, it's nothing

indicating the absence of anything perceptible; nothingness

indicating the absence of meaning, value, worth, etc to amount to nothing

zero quantity; nought

be nothing to

not to concern or be significant to (someone)
to be not nearly as good as

have nothing to do with or be nothing to do with to have no connection with

have nothing on or have got nothing on

to have no engagements to keep
to be undressed or naked
informal to compare unfavourably with

in nothing flat informal in almost no time; very quickly or soon

nothing but not something other than; only

nothing doing informal an expression of dismissal, disapproval, lack of compliance with a request, etc

nothing if not at the very least; certainly

nothing less than or nothing short of downright; truly

there's nothing for it there's no choice; there's no other course

there's nothing like a general expression of praise there's nothing like a good cup of tea

there's nothing to it it is very simple, easy, etc

think nothing of

to regard as routine, easy, or natural
to have no compunction or hesitation about
to have a very low opinion of

to say nothing of as well as; even disregarding he was warmly dressed in a shirt and heavy jumper, to say nothing of his thick overcoat

stop at nothing to be prepared to do anything; be unscrupulous or ruthless

adverb

in no way; not at all he looked nothing like his brother

noun

informal a person or thing of no importance or significance

sweet nothings words of endearment or affection

Word Origin for nothing

Old English nāthing, nān thing, from nān none 1 + thing 1

usage for nothing

Nothing normally takes a singular verb, but when nothing but is followed by a plural form of a noun, a plural verb is usually used: it was a large room where nothing but souvenirs were sold

Idioms and Phrases with nothing short of (1 of 2)

nothing short of

The equivalent of, the same as, as in His accusation is nothing short of slander. This term is slightly stronger than little short of, meaning “almost the same as,” as in Her claim is little short of stupid. The first term dates from about 1800, the second from about 1830. Also see short of.

Idioms and Phrases with nothing short of (2 of 2)

nothing

In addition to the idioms beginning with nothing

nothing but
nothing doing
nothing if not
nothing like
nothing new under the sun
nothing of the kind
nothing short of
nothing to do with
nothing to it, there's
nothing to sneeze at
nothing to speak of
nothing to write home about
nothing ventured, nothing gained

also see:

come to nothing
count for (nothing)
go for nothing
have nothing on
have nothing to do with
here goes (nothing)
in no time (nothing flat)
leave a lot (nothing) to be desired
make nothing of
make something of (nothing)
much ado about nothing
not know beans (from nothing)
not to mention (say nothing of)
stop at nothing
sweet nothings
think nothing of
want for nothing

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

nothing

noun

adverb

adjective

Idioms for nothing

Origin of nothing

Words nearby nothing

British Dictionary definitions for nothing short of

pronoun

adverb

noun

Word Origin for nothing

usage for nothing

Idioms and Phrases with nothing short of (1 of 2)

Idioms and Phrases with nothing short of (2 of 2)

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

nothing

noun

adverb

adjective

Idioms for nothing

Origin of nothing

Words nearby nothing

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for nothing short of

pronoun

adverb

noun

Word Origin for nothing

usage for nothing

Idioms and Phrases with nothing short of (1 of 2)

Idioms and Phrases with nothing short of (2 of 2)

British Dictionary definitions for nothing short of