labor in vain

THESAURUS

labor in vain

be found wanting, be unsuccessful, beat the air, bootless errand, come to grief, fail, fail of success, flunk, flunk out, go bankrupt, labor of Sisyphus, lash the waves, lose, lost, milk the ram, not come off, not pass, not work, snipe hunt, sow the sand, tilt at windmills, waste of breath, waste of labor, waste of time, wild-goose chase, work of Penelope

ROGET THESAURUS

labor in vain

Waste

VB spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust, impoverish, spill, drain, empty, disperse, cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away, burn the candle at both ends, waste, squander, waste its sweetness on the desert air, cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine, employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a wheel, labor in vain, cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve, leak, run to waste, ebb, melt away, run dry, dry up.

Inutility

N inutility, uselessness, inefficacy, futility, ineptitude, inaptitude, unsubservience, inadequacy, inefficiency, unskillfulness, disservice, unfruitfulness (unproductiveness), labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus, lost trouble, lost labor, work of Penelope, sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce, tautology, supererogation, vanitas vanitatum, vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity, triviality, caput mortuum, waste paper, dead letter, blunt tool, litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes, button top, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings, waste, rubble, debris, detritus, stubble, leavings, broken meat, dregs, weeds, tares, rubbish heap, dust hole, rudera, deads, fruges consumere natus, useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless, inoperative, inadequate, inservient, unsubservient, inept, inefficient, of no avail, ineffectual, incompetent, stale, flat and unprofitable, superfluous, dispensable, thrown away, abortive, worthless, valueless, priceless, unsalable, not worth a straw, dear at any price, vain, empty, inane, gainless, profitless, fruitless, unserviceable, unprofitable, ill-spent, unproductive, hors de combat, effete, past work, obsolete, fit for the dust hole, good for nothing, of no earthly use, not worth having, not worth powder and shot, leading to no end, uncalled for, unnecessary, unneeded, uselessly, to little purpose, to no purpose, to little or no purpose, Int, cui bono?, what's the good!, actum ne agas, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin, tanto buon che val niente.

VB be useless, go a begging, fail, seek after impossibilities, strive after impossibilities, use vain efforts, labor in vain, roll the stone of Sisyphus, beat the air, lash the waves, battre l'eau avec un baton, donner un coup d'epee dans l'eau, fish in the air, milk the ram, drop a bucket into an empty well, sow the sand, bay the moon, preach to the winds, speak to the winds, whistle jigs to a milestone, kick against the pricks, se battre contre des moulins, lock the stable door when the steed is stolen, lock the barn door after the horse is stolen, hold a farthing candle to the sun, cast pearls before swine, carry coals to Newcastle, wash a blackamoor white, render useless, dismantle, dismast, dismount, disqualify, disable, unrig, cripple, lame, spike guns, clip the wings, put out of gear.

Failure

N failure, nonsuccess, nonfulfillment, dead failure, successlessness, abortion, miscarriage, brutum fulmen, labor in vain, no go, inefficacy, inefficaciousness, vain attempt, ineffectual attempt, abortive attempt, abortive efforts, flash in the pan, lame and impotent conclusion, frustration, slip 'twixt cup and lip, blunder, fault, omission, miss, oversight, slip, trip, stumble, claudication, footfall, false step, wrong step, faux pas, titubation, b_evue, faute, lurch, botchery, scrape, mess, fiasco, breakdown, flunk, mishap, split, collapse, smash, blow, explosion, repulse, rebuff, defeat, rout, overthrow, discomfiture, beating, drubbing, quietus, nonsuit, subjugation, checkmate, stalemate, fool's mate, fall, downfall, ruin, perdition, wreck, deathblow, bankruptcy, losing game, affaire flamb_ee, victim, bankrupt, flunker, flunky, unsuccessful, successless, failing, tripping, at fault, unfortunate, abortive, addle, stillborn, fruitless, bootless, ineffectual, ineffective, inconsequential, trifling, nugatory, inefficient, insufficient, unavailing, of no effect, aground, grounded, swamped, stranded, cast away, wrecked, foundered, capsized, shipwrecked, nonsuited, foiled, defeated, struck down, borne down, broken down, downtrodden, overborne, overwhelmed, all up with, ploughed, plowed, plucked, lost, undone, ruined, broken, bankrupt, played out, done up, done for, dead beat, ruined root and branch, flambe, knocked on the head, destroyed, frustrated, crossed, unhinged, disconcerted dashed, thrown off one's balance, thrown on one's back, thrown on one's beam ends, unhorsed, in a sorry plight, hard hit, stultified, befooled, dished, hoist on one's own petard, victimized, sacrificed, wide of the mark, out of one's reckoning, left in the lurch, thrown away, unattained, uncompleted, unsuccessfully, to little or no purpose, in vain, re infecta, the bubble has burst, the jig is up, the game is up, all is lost, the devil to pay, parturiunt montes, dies infaustus, tout est perdu hors l'honneur.

VB fail, be unsuccessful, not succeed, make vain efforts, do in vain, labor in vain, toil in vain, flunk, lose one's labor, take nothing by one's motion, bring to naught, make nothing of, wash a blackamoor white, roll the stones of Sisyphus, do by halves, lose ground, fall short of, miss, miss one's aim, miss the mark, miss one's footing, miss stays, slip, trip, stumble, make a slip, blunder, make a mess of, make a botch of, bitch it, miscarry, abort, go up like a rocket and come down like the stick, come down in flames, get shot down, reckon without one's host, get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear, limp, halt, hobble, titubate, fall, tumble, lose one's balance, fall to the ground, fall between two stools, flounder, falter, stick in the mud, run aground, split upon a rock, beat one's head against a stone wall, run one's head against a stone wall, knock one's head against a stone wall, dash one's head against a stone wall, break one's back, break down, sink, drown, founder, have the ground cut from under one, get into trouble, get into a mess, get into a scrape, come to grief, go to the wall, go to the dogs, go to pot, lick the dust, bite the dust, be defeated, have the worst of it, lose the day, come off second best, lose, fall a prey to, succumb, not have a leg to stand on, come to nothing, end in smoke, flat out, fall to the ground, fall through, fall dead, fall stillborn, fall flat, slip through one's fingers, hang fire, miss fire, flash in the pan, collapse, topple down, go to wrack and ruin, go amiss, go wrong, go cross, go hard with, go on a wrong tack, go on ill, come off ill, turn out ill, work ill, take a wrong term, take an ugly term, take an ugly turn, take a turn for the worse, be all over with, be all up with, explode, dash one's hopes, defeat the purpose, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, go from the frying pan into the fire.

Shortcoming

N shortcoming, failure, falling short, default, defalcation, leeway, labor in vain, no go, incompleteness, imperfection, insufficiency, noncompletion, failure, unreached, deficient, short, short of, minus, out of depth, perfunctory, within the mark, within the compass, within the bounds, behindhand, re infecta, to no purpose, for from it, the bubble burst.