come to nought
End in failure
To come to nought is to fail completely, to amount to nothing after effort or expectation: All our careful planning came to nought when the funding fell through.
Nought is an old word for zero or nothing, now rarely used outside this phrase.
The spelling "come to naught" is equally common.
- melt awayGradually disappear completely
- vanishCease to be visible
- go up in smokeFail and vanish entirely
- failBe unsuccessful
- abortEnd before completion
fizzle · go nowhere · fall flat · annul · collapse · run aground · lead nowhere · dead end · thwart · fiasco · debacle · dashed · misfire · bite the dust · fruitless · peter out · go belly up · extinction
come to noughtsucceed
Achieve a desired aim
bear fruit · pay off · flourish · prosper · triumph
come to noughtmaterialize
Become physically present
come to pass · take shape · come into being · blossom · culminate
come, comes, coming, comer, comers, income, outcome, overcome, becoming