| / English Dictionary |
IN VAIN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
To no avail
Example:
the city fathers tried vainly to find a solution
Synonyms:
in vain; vainly
Classified under:
Context examples:
In vain we dragged out some of the pieces.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But now he was tied with a chain that defied his teeth, and he strove in vain, by lunging, to draw the staple from the timber into which it was driven.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Come back! she did not stretch out her yearning arms in vain.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Mr. Darcy, with grave propriety, requested to be allowed the honour of her hand, but in vain.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Every criminal resort which Shlessinger might frequent was drawn in vain.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“I think that I may go so far as to say, Watson, that I have not lived wholly in vain,” he remarked.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
In vain he strove and reasoned with himself as to the madness of letting his mind rest upon Sir Nigel's daughter.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Mrs. Weston looked, and looked in vain.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
It will be readily believed that Mrs. Norris did not write to her sister in vain.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Yet there were still three upon that island—Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn—who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in vain to share in the reward.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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