Meaning
2 senses(informal, uncountable)Nothing, zero.
Her search for decent home-made winter clothes came up with zilch, so she had to get imported stuff.
nix
ничего́ničevó, ни черта́ni čertá, ни фига́ni figá
(archaic, countable, informal)A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character.
- a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential
Examples
3 sentencesI understand zilch.
"How much money do you have?" "Zilch."
"How many questions did you get right?" "Zilch."
ru"На сколько вопросов ты ответил правильно?" – "Ни на сколько". — xmoffx
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson inProbably 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.
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Forms
plural: zilchesSynonyms
36 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable