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Zilch
Definitions
- 1 No, zero, non-existent. US, informal, not-comparable
"Zilch, adj. Nothing, zero..."
- 1 A surname from German.
- 1 A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character. archaic, countable, informal
"President Henry P. Zilch. Chairman of the Board Charles D. Zilch. Treasurer Otto Zilch."
- 2 a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential wordnet
- 3 Nothing, zero. informal, uncountable
"Her search for decent home-made winter clothes came up with zilch, so she had to get imported stuff."
- 1 To cause to score nothing, to thoroughly defeat. US, informal
"We zilched them on that rubber."
Etymology
Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson in his column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1923; in turn from Joe Zilch, an unseen character referenced in comedian Frank Tinney's stage routine. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.
Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson in his column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1923; in turn from Joe Zilch, an unseen character referenced in comedian Frank Tinney's stage routine. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.
Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson in his column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1923; in turn from Joe Zilch, an unseen character referenced in comedian Frank Tinney's stage routine. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.
From German Zilch. Found in America since at least the 1860s. As a 1930s placeholder surname of uncertain etymology, the eventual etymon of zilch.
See also for "zilch"
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