come to naught

A form of come to nought — To fail completely; to have no successful result.

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Meanings

verbcome to naught (third-person singular simple present comes to naught, present participle coming to naught, simple past came to naught, past participle come to naught)

present singular third person comes to naught · participle present coming to naught · past came to naught

  1. alternativeAlternative form of come to nought.
    1 more example

    The powers for the original line from Chingford to High Beech having been abandoned with the rest of the Loughton Branch Junction-High Beech line in 1869, another attempt was made in 1882, to extend the line three miles into the heart of the Forest. […] Unfortunately, this scheme also came to naught.

    1952 December, 'Icarus', “The Chingford Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 793
Cite this entry
APA

come to naught. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20to%20naught

MLA

“come to naught.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20to%20naught. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “come to naught,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20to%20naught.

Source: come to naught on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.