| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| nothing |
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| SYLLABICATION: | noth·ing |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  n th  ng |
| PRONOUN: | 1. No thing; not anything: The box contained nothing. I've heard nothing about it. 2. No part; no portion: Nothing remains of the old house but the cellar hole. 3. One of no consequence, significance, or interest: The new nonsmoking policy is nothing to me. | | NOUN: | 1. Something that has no existence. 2. Something that has no quantitative value; zero: a score of two to nothing. 3. One that has no substance or importance; a nonentity: “A nothing is a dreadful thing to hold onto” (Edna O'Brien). | | ADJECTIVE: | Insignificant or worthless: “the utterly nothing role of a wealthy suitor” (Bosley Crowther). | | ADVERB: | In no way or degree; not at all: She looks nothing like her sister. | | IDIOMS: | for nothing 1. Free of charge. 2. To no avail: all that trouble for nothing. 3. For no reason: fired him for nothing. in nothing flat In very little time; very quickly. nothing doing Informal Certainly not. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old English n thing : n, no; see no2 + thing, thing; see thing. | | USAGE NOTE: | According to the traditional rule, nothing is invariably treated as a singular, even when followed by an exception phrase containing a plural noun: Nothing except your fears stands (not stand) in your way. Nothing but roses meets (not meet) the eye. See Usage Note at none.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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