nothing

 
Pronunciation: /ˈnʌθɪŋ/

pronoun

  • not anything; no single thing: I said nothing there’s nothing you can do they found nothing wrong
  • something of no importance or concern: ‘What are you laughing at?’ ‘Oh, nothing, sir’ they are nothing to him [as noun]: no longer could we be treated as nothings
  • (in calculations) no amount; nought.

adjective

[attributive] informal
  • having no prospect of progress; of no value: he had a series of nothing jobs

adverb

  • not at all: a man who cared nothing for her he looks nothing like the others
  • [postpositive] North American informal used to contradict something emphatically: ‘This is a surprise.’ ‘Surprise nothing.’

Phrases

be nothing to do with

see do1.

for nothing

  • 1at no cost; without payment: working for nothing is a luxury I can’t afford
  • 2to no purpose: he died anyway, so it had all been for nothing

have nothing on someone

see have.

have nothing to do with

see do1.

no nothing

informal (concluding a list of negatives) nothing at all: how could you solve it with no clues, no witnesses, no nothing?

not for nothing

for a very good reason: not for nothing have I a brother-in-law who cooks professionally

nothing but

only: nothing but the best will do

nothing daunted

see daunt.

nothing doing

informal
  • 1there is no prospect of success or agreement: He wants to marry her. Nothing doing!
  • 2nothing is happening: there’s nothing doing, and I’ve been waiting for weeks

nothing (or nothing else) for it

British no alternative: there was nothing for it but to follow

nothing less than

used to emphasize how great or extreme something is: it was nothing less than sexual harassment

nothing much

not a great amount; nothing of importance: there was nothing much to see

there is nothing to it

there is no difficulty involved.

stop at nothing

see stop.

sweet nothings

words of affection exchanged by lovers: Ned appeared to be whispering sweet nothings in her ear

think nothing of it

do not apologize or feel bound to show gratitude (used as a polite response).

you ain't seen nothing yet

informal used to indicate that however extreme or impressive something may seem, it will be overshadowed by what is to come: if you think that was muddy, you ain’t seen nothing yet

Origin:

Old English nān thing (see no, thing)