labor in vain

werkwoord

Roget 732: fail; be unsuccessful etc. adj.; not succeed etc. 731; make vain efforts etc. n.; do in vain, labor in vain, toil in vain; flunk [U.S.]; lose one's labor, take nothing by one's motion; bring to naught, make nothing of; wash a blackamoor white etc. (impossible) 471; roll the stones of Sisyphus etc. (useless) 645; do by halves etc. (not complete) 730; lose ground etc. (recede) 282; fall short of etc. 304.    miss, miss one's aim, miss the mark, miss one's footing, miss stays; slip, trip, stumble; make a slip etc. n.. blunder etc. 495, make a mess of, make a botch of; bitch it^†, miscarry, abort, go up like a rocket and come down like the stick, come down in flames, get shot down, reckon without one's host; get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear etc. (blunder), )mismanage) 699.    limp, halt, hobble, titubate^†; fall, tumble; lose one's balance; fall to the ground, fall between two stools; flounder, falter, stick in the mud, run aground, split upon a rock; beat one's head against a stone wall, run one's head against a stone wall, knock one's head against a stone wall, dash one's head against a stone wall; break one's back; break down, sink, drown, founder, have the ground cut from under one; get into trouble, get into a mess, get into a scrape; come to grief etc. (adversity) 735; go to the wall, go to the dogs, go to pot; lick the dust, bite the dust; be defeated etc. 731; have the worst of it, lose the day, come off second best, lose; fall a prey to; succumb etc. (submit) 725; not have a leg to stand on.    come to nothing, end in smoke; flat out^†; fall to the ground, fall through, fall dead, fall stillborn, fall flat; slip through one's fingers; hang fire, miss fire; flash in the pan, collapse; topple down etc. (descent) 305; go to wrack and ruin etc. (destruction) 162.    go amiss, go wrong, go cross, go hard with, go on a wrong tack; go on ill, come off ill, turn out ill, work ill; take a wrong term, take an ugly term; take an ugly turn, take a turn for the worse.    be all over with, be all up with; explode; dash one's hopes etc. (disappoint) 509; defeat the purpose; sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, go from the frying pan into the fire.    ... meer laten zien

zelfstandig naamwoord

Roget 304: shortcoming, failure; falling short etc. v.; default, defalcation; leeway; labor in vain, no go.    incompleteness etc. 53; imperfection etc. 651; insufficiency etc. 640; noncompletion etc. 730; failure etc. 732.    ... meer laten zien

Roget 645: inutility; uselessness etc. adj.; inefficacy^†, futility; ineptitude, inaptitude; unsubservience^†; inadequacy etc. (insufficiency) 640; inefficiency, etc. (incompetence) 158; unskillfulness etc. 699; disservice; unfruitfulness etc. (unproductiveness).. 169; labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus; lost trouble, lost labor; work of Penelope; sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce.    tautology etc. (repetition) 104; supererogation etc. (redundancy) 641.    vanitas vanitatum [Lat.], vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity^†; triviality etc. (unimportance) 643.    caput mortuum [Lat.], waste paper, dead letter; blunt tool.    litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes; button top; shoddy; rags, orts^†, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings^†, waste, rubble, debris, detritus; stubble, leavings; broken meat; dregs etc. (dirt) 653; weeds, tares; rubbish heap, dust hole; rudera^†, deads^†.    fruges consumere natus [Lat.] [Horace]. etc. (drone) 683 ... meer laten zien

Roget 732: failure; nonsuccess^†, nonfulfillment; dead failure, successlessness^†; abortion, miscarriage; brutum fulmen etc. 158 [Lat.]; labor in vain etc. (inutility) 645; no go; inefficacy^†; inefficaciousness etc. adj.; vain attempt, ineffectual attempt, abortive attempt, abortive efforts; flash in the pan, lame and impotent conclusion" [Othello]; frustration; slip 'twixt cup and lip etc. (disappointment) 509.    blunder etc. (mistake) 495; fault, omission, miss, oversight, slip, trip, stumble, claudication^†, footfall; false step, wrong step; faux pas [Fr.], titubation^†, b_evue [Fr.], faute [Fr.], lurch; botchery etc. (want of skill) 699^†; scrape, mess, fiasco, breakdown; flunk [U.S.].    mishap etc. (misfortune) 735; split, collapse, smash, blow, explosion.    repulse, rebuff, defeat, rout, overthrow, discomfiture; beating, drubbing; quietus, nonsuit^†, subjugation; checkmate, stalemate, fool's mate.    fall, downfall, ruin, perdition; wreck etc. (destruction) 162; deathblow; bankruptcy etc. (nonpayment) 808.    losing game, affaire flamb_ee.    victim; bankrupt; flunker^†, flunky [U.S.].    ... meer laten zien

werkwoord

Roget 645: be useless etc. adj.; go a begging etc. (redundant) 641; fail etc. 732.    seek after impossibilities, strive after impossibilities; use vain efforts, labor in vain, roll the stone of Sisyphus, beat the air, lash the waves, battre l'eau avec un baton [Fr.], donner un coup d'epee dans l'eau [Fr.], fish in the air, milk the ram, drop a bucket into an empty well, sow the sand; bay the moon; preach to the winds, speak to the winds; whistle jigs to a milestone; kick against the pricks, se battre contre des moulins [Fr.]; lock the stable door when the steed is stolen, lock the barn door after the horse is stolen etc. (too late) 135; hold a farthing candle to the sun; cast pearls before swine etc. (waste) 638; carry coals to Newcastle etc. (redundancy) 641; wash a blackamoor white etc. (impossible) 471.    render useless etc. adj.; dismantle, dismast, dismount, disqualify, disable; unrig; cripple, lame etc. (injure) 659; spike guns, clip the wings; put out of gear.    ... meer laten zien

Roget 638: spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust; impoverish; spill, drain, empty; disperse etc. 73.    cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away; burn the candle at both ends, waste; squander etc. 818.    waste its sweetness on the desert air" [Gray]; cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine; employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a wheel; labor in vain etc. (useless) 645; cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve.    leak etc. (run out) 295; run to waste; ebb; melt away, run dry, dry up.    ... meer laten zien

Moby betekeniswoordenboek: be found wanting, be unsuccessful, beat the air, bootless errand, come to grief, fail, fail of success, flunk, flunk out, go bankrupt, labor of Sisyphus, lash the waves, lose, lost, milk the ram, not come off, not pass, not work, snipe hunt, sow the sand, tilt at windmills, waste of breath, waste of labor, waste of time, wild-goose chase, work of Penelope ... meer laten zien.

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