nonhit

plural nonhits

1. A song, etc. that fails to become a hit.

   There was a difference in the decibel level of the crowd roar when the band started up a hit —— “Hey Nineteen,” “Peg,” “Black Friday” ——— as opposed to a nonhit, like “Show Biz Kids” or “Babylon Sisters.”

   2008 June 16, Ben Ratliff, “Pop Veterans Still Pumping Anti-Charisma”, in New York Times

2. computingFailure to match any record in an information retrieval system.

   Nonhits occur when there is no definite element, such as Library of Congress or ISBN number, in the brief record...

   1992, Beverly K. Duval, Linda Main, Automated library systems