一场空 (yī cháng) — all in vain; futile; (efforts) come to nothing
Definition
一场空 (yī chǎng kōng) is a four-character idiom meaning 'all in vain' — a whole effort dissolves into nothing. Typically comes after a verb like 落 (luò) or 化为 (huà wéi) to describe a complete loss.
idiom
all in vainfutile(efforts) come to nothing
Examples
- ，一场空。Tā máng le zhěng zhěng yì nián, zuì hòu què yī cháng.He was busy for a whole year, but in the end everything came to nothing.
- ，一场空。Rú guǒ zhè cì tán pàn shī bài, suǒ yǒu zhǔn bèi dōu jiāng yī cháng.If this negotiation fails, all the preparations will be in vain.
- ‘一场空’，。Sú yǔ shuō 'zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yī cháng', zuò shì bù néng zhī xiǎng jié jìng.As the saying goes, 'drawing water with a bamboo basket — all in vain'; you can't just look for shortcuts when doing things.
Appears in
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