(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Nothing means not a single thing, or not a single part of something.
I’ve done ~ much since coffee time...
Mr Pearson said he knew ~ of his wife’s daytime habits...
He was dressed in jeans and ~ else...
There is ~ wrong with the car.
PRON
2.
You use ~ to indicate that something or someone is not important or significant.
Because he had always had money it meant ~ to him...
While the increase in homicides is alarming, it is ~ compared to what is to come in the rest of the decade...
She kept bursting into tears over ~ at work...
Do our years together mean ~?
PRON
•
Nothing is also a noun.
It is the picture itself that is the problem; so small, so dull. It’s a ~, really...
N-COUNT: usu sing
3.
If you say that something cost ~ or is worth ~, you are indicating that it cost or is worth a surprisingly small amount of money.
The furniture was threadbare; he’d obviously picked it up for ~...
Homes in this corner of Mantua that once went for $350,000 are now worth ~.
PRON
4.
You use ~ before an adjective or ‘to’-infinitive to say that something or someone does not have the quality indicated.
Around the lake the countryside generally is ~ special...
There was ~ remarkable about him...
All kids her age do silly things; it’s ~ to worry about.
PRON: PRON adj, PRON to-inf
5.
You can use ~ before ‘so’ and an adjective or adverb, or before a comparative, to emphasize how strong or great a particular quality is.
Youngsters learn ~ so fast as how to beat the system...
I consider ~ more important in my life than songwriting...
There’s ~ better than a good cup of hot coffee.
PRON: PRON so adj/adv, PRON compar emphasis
6.
You can use all or ~ to say that either something must be done fully and completely or else it cannot be done at all.
Either he went through with this thing or he did not; it was all or ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
7.
If you say that something is better than ~, you mean that it is not what is required, but that it is better to have that thing than to have ~ at all.
After all, 15 minutes of exercise is better than ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
8.
You use ~ but in front of a noun, an infinitive without ‘to’, or an ‘-ing’ form to mean ‘only’.
All that money brought ~ but sadness and misery and tragedy...
It did ~ but make us ridiculous...
They care for ~ but fighting.
PHRASE: PHR n/inf/-ing
9.
If you say that there is ~ for it but to take a particular action, you mean that it is the only possible course of action that you can take, even though it might be unpleasant. (BRIT)
Much depends on which individual ingredients you choose. There is ~ for it but to taste and to experiment for yourself...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR but to-inf, PHR but n
10.
You use ~ if not in front of an adjective to indicate that someone or something clearly has a lot of the particular quality mentioned.
Professor Fish has been ~ if not professional...
PHRASE: v-link PHR adj emphasis
11.
People sometimes say ‘It’s ~’ as a polite response after someone has thanked them for something they have done.
‘Thank you for the wonderful dinner.’—‘It’s ~,’ Sarah said...
‘I’ll be on my way. I can’t thank you enough, Alan.’—‘It was ~, but take care.’
= don’t mention it
CONVENTION formulae
12.
If you say about a story or report that there is ~ in it or ~ to it, you mean that it is untrue.
It’s all rubbish and superstition, and there’s ~ in it.
PHRASE: there v-link PHR
13.
If you say about an activity that there is ~ to it or ~ in it, you mean that it is extremely easy.
This device has a gripper that electrically twists off the jar top. Nothing to it...
If you’ve shied away from making pancakes in the past, don’t be put off–there’s really ~ in it!
PHRASE: there v-link PHR
14.
If you say about a contest or competition that there is ~ in it, you mean that two or more of the competitors are level and have an equal chance of winning.
PHRASE: there v-link PHR
15.
Nothing of the sort is used when strongly contradicting something that has just been said.
‘We’re going to talk this over in my office.’—‘We’re going to do ~ of the sort.’...
Mrs Adamson said that she was extremely sorry, in tones that made it clear that she was ~ of the sort.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR emphasis
16.
~ to write home about: see home
to say ~ of: see say
~ short of: see short
to stop at ~: see stop
to think ~ of: see think
see also sweet ~s