Definition

1. Noun:
   • Nothing, zero: "nil" refers to the complete absence of quantity or value; it means zero or nothing.
   • A score of zero: In sports, especially British English, "nil" is used to indicate a score of zero.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The chances of success are virtually nil. (There is almost no chance of success.)
  • The final score was three-nil. (The final score was three to zero.)
  • His contribution to the project was nil. (He contributed nothing to the project.)

Advanced Usage

• "to reduce to nil": to completely eliminate or bring down to nothing.
  • The new policy reduced the error rate to nil. (The new policy completely eliminated errors.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nada (n, informal): nothing.
  • I know nada about car engines. (I know nothing about car engines.)
• Zilch (n, informal): zero, nothing.
  • We got zilch from the investigation. (We got nothing from the investigation.)
• Zero (n): the number 0; nothing.
  • The temperature dropped to zero. (The temperature dropped to 0 degrees.)

Synonyms

• Nothing: not anything; no single thing.
• Naught (also nought): nothing.
• Goose egg (n, informal, chiefly US): a score of zero.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• For nil: for nothing, without any result or gain.
  • All our hard work was for nil. (All our hard work was for nothing.)
• Nil by mouth (medical instruction): a directive that a patient is not to eat or drink anything.
  • The patient is nil by mouth before the surgery. (The patient must not consume anything before the surgery.)

Noun

1. a quantity of no importance
   • it looked like nothing I had ever seen before
   • reduced to nil all the work we had done
   • we racked up a pathetic goose egg
   • it was all for naught
   • I didn't hear zilch about it