FRUITLESS
ADJECTIVES
1599 — SISYPHIAN of or pert. to Sisyphus (a king of Corinth, whose punishment in Hades was to roll a heavy stone up a hill; as he reached the top, the stone rolled down again); resembling the fruitless toil of Sisyphus; endless and ineffective
1635 — SISYPHEAN of or pert. to Sisyphus (a king of Corinth, whose punishment in Hades was to roll a heavy stone up a hill; as he reached the top, the stone rolled down again); resembling the fruitless toil of Sisyphus; endless and ineffective
NOUNS
1823 — WATER HAUL a fruitless or useless effort of any kind → Amer. dial.
1892 — BAD HALFPENNY a fruitless errand; a ne’er-do-well → Aust. sl. (Bk.)
PHRASES
1999 — WET ARSE AND NO FISH said of a fruitless errand → Aust. sl. (Bk.)
VERBS
1630 — ABORTIVATE to render abortive; to render ineffectual or fruitless → obs.
Lexicophilia 