IN VAIN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does in vain mean? 

• IN VAIN (adverb)
  The adverb IN VAIN has 1 sense:

1. to no avail

  Familiarity information: IN VAIN used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IN VAIN (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

To no avail

Synonyms:

in vain; vainly

Context example:

the city fathers tried vainly to find a solution

 Context examples 

She wondered, and questioned him eagerly; but in vain.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She got out of her carriage and went to him; she called him and shook him, but it was all in vain, he still continued sleeping.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

In vain I objected and denied.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

In vain Buck strove to sink his teeth in the neck of the big white dog.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I answered as loud as I could in several languages, and he often laid his ear within two yards of me: but all in vain, for we were wholly unintelligible to each other.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It was in vain for me to say that no consideration was necessary.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Consider—if reading had not been taught, Mrs. Radcliffe would have written in vain—or perhaps might not have written at all.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

In vain I begged him to tell me more.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate man.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dennin was conscious. He had rolled over and over on the floor in vain efforts to free himself.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)