come to nought

verb

To fail completely; to have no successful result.

“The Bank of England's anti-inflation efforts will come to nought if the U.S. Federal Reserve refuse to join in the plan.”

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come to nothing
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Meanings

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

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

  1. idiomaticintransitiveTo fail completely; to have no successful result.

    The Bank of England's anti-inflation efforts will come to nought if the U.S. Federal Reserve refuse to join in the plan.

    1 more example

    As he pointed out, however, there was "still more to come". By 1977-78, "the use of the first Advanced Passenger Trains will reduce journey times between London and Glasgow to four hours". It was a grand statement of optimism that would sadly come to nought.

    2024 May 15, Greg Morse, “West Coast electric... all the way”, in RAIL, number 1009, page 41

    Synonyms: come to nothing

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo fail completely; to have no successful result.

Similar
come to nothing
Also see
come to nothingcrash and burndie in the assfailgo to shit
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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