From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishin vainin vaina) FAILwithout success in spite of your efforts Police searched in vain for the missing gunman. b) without purpose or without positive results Altman swore that his son’s death would not be in vain. → take somebody’s name in vain at name1(12) → vain
Examples from the Corpus
in vain• If people don't learn from this, then his suffering and death were in vain.• It took a great deal of courage to admit that all her efforts had been in vain.• Police have spent hours searching in vain for the missing teenager.• Workers tried in vain to keep the building from collapsing.• Doctors tried in vain to save him but he died just before dawn. 