They had tried, but in vain, to drag him out.
He made a vain attempt to reach the summit of the mountain.
On two successive nights they tried in vain to seize a knoll that lay between their position and monastery hill .
The vain hope is that in the process of studying geography, math, English, biology, and so on, students will learn to think critically.
For this reason, Christianity is anti-wisdom: wisdom tells us that our efforts are in vain, that everything ends in chaos, while Christianity madly insists on the impossible.
If the kids find their grandparents' language uncool, all of the well-intentioned outside help by linguists is usually in vain, except for preserving the language as a museum-piece.
They tried to rally the pound sterling but in vain.
The former US President Bill Clinton's rivals wanted to impeach him but in vain.
Vain man, said she, that dost in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize; For I myself shall like to this decay, And eek my name be wiped out likewise.
Another African summit, another disappointment. Any hope that the change of leadership in South Africa might bring change across the border in Zimbabwe has proved in vain.
From the age of two, a friend of mine went with his mother every month to the Abu Salim prison, hoping in vain to see his father, who was imprisoned there.
The world had made him extravagant and vain.
Owing to the small size of the mausoleum chapel, the mosaics do not create the impression of vain, cold pomp.
To make himself the one trusted friend, to whom should be confided all the fear, the remorse, the agony, the ineffectual repentance, the backward rush of sinful thoughts, expelled in vain!
Who renders vain their deep desire?
After resorting in vain to screwdrivers and pliers, I decided to call a locksmith shop.
The only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.
he looked for her in vain; the city fathers tried vainly to find a solution.
Since the dawn of biblical archaeology, scholars have sought in vain to verify that there really was an Abraham, a Moses, an Exodus, a conquest of Jericho.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
She is vain of her voice.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
Then my living shall not be in vain.
But wishes were vain; or at best could serve only to amuse her in the hurry and confusion of the following hour.
The eyes try in vain to perceive anything but drops of light and colors trembling on the lashes.
