nothing
Language: English
Part of speech: pron
Pronunciation: enpr: nŭth'ĭng
ipa: /ˈnʌθɪŋ/
ipa: /nɒ-/
ipa: /-ŋk/
ipa: [ˈnʌʔn̩]
rhymes: -ʌθɪŋ
Forms: form: nuffin
form: nuffink
form: nuttin
form: nuttin'
form: nuthin
form: nuthin'
form: nuthing
form: nothin'
form: nothink
Etymology: From Middle English nothyng, noon thing, non thing, na þing, nan thing, nan þing, from Old English nāþing, nān þing (“nothing”, literally “not any thing”), equivalent to no + thing. Compare Old English nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “no thing”), Swedish ingenting (“nothing”, literally “not any thing, no thing”).
Senses: examples: text: Don't just say nothing. Tell me what's going on.
text: Nothing bad will happen, will it?
text: There remains nothing more to be done.
text: the players see little or nothing of their cards at first starting
ref: 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:
text: A ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable.
ref: 1911, Ambrose Bierce, “Wedding”, in The Devil’s Dictionary, New York, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.: The Neale Publishing Company, →OCLC:
text: Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.
ref: 2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:
glosses: Not any thing; no thing.
glosses: An absence of anything, including empty space, brightness, darkness, matter, or a vacuum.
Synonyms: sense: not any thing
word: not a thing
sense: not any thing
word: naught
sense: not any thing
word: jack
sense: not any thing
word: nada
sense: not any thing
word: zip
sense: not any thing
word: zippo
sense: not any thing
word: zilch
sense: not any thing
word: squat
sense: not any thing
word: nix
sense: not any thing
word: bugger all
sense: not any thing
word: jack shit
sense: not any thing
word: sod all
sense: not any thing
word: fuck all
sense: not any thing
word: dick
sense: not any thing
word: nowt
sense: something trifling
word: nothing of any consequence
sense: something trifling
word: nothing consequential
sense: something trifling
word: nothing important
sense: something trifling
word: nothing significant
sense: something trifling
word: something inconsequential
sense: something trifling
word: something insignificant
sense: something trifling
word: something of no consequence
sense: something trifling
word: something trifling
sense: something trifling
word: something unimportant
word: aught
word: blank
word: bupkis
word: cipher
word: dick all
word: diddly
word: diddly squat
word: diddly-squat
word: doodley-squat
word: doodly-squat
word: Fanny Adams
word: fig
word: FA
word: jack all
word: jackshit
word: jack squat
word: nil
word: nish
word: nothing
word: nought
word: null
word: nuttin'
word: shit
word: squadoosh
word: sweet bugger all
word: sweet FA
word: sweet Fanny Adams
word: sweet fuck all
word: zero
word: zerosville
word: zipola
Related terms: word: absent
word: empty
word: gone
word: hill of beans
word: row of pins
word: nonentity
word: nonexistent
word: vacant
word: vacuum
word: void
word: quantifier