all to no purpose

常见例句

He tried to find out the cause, but all to no purpose.
他试图找出原因，但是全无结果。
They read deep and learned books to him, and then the lightest and most trifling that could be found, but all to no purpose.
人们念些深奥的书给他听，或念些世上最轻松的读物给他听，但这对他的病也没有什么好处。
There he plumed and dressed himself and washed his coat, but all to no purpose, for his plumage remained as black as ever, and he himself soon perished for his usual food.
乌鸦的羽毛仍像往常一样黑。而且，由于缺乏他赖以生存的食物，乌鸦不久后也就一命呜呼了。
aking508.blog.163.com

But the result is an unwieldy hydra of a book that, having made its point early on, lashes out in all directions to no clear purpose.
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That is, here is a glaring waste of electric power, fully lighting a business through all its nighttime inactivity, every single night, for no purpose at all except to advertise its presence to almost empty midnight streets.
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