noun
zilch
zihlch
noun
1
Nothing at all; zero.
"I asked for a raise and got zilch."
"They searched the whole house and found zilch."
How to Use Zilch
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn informal way of saying "nothing" or "zero."
When to use it
Informal — fine in speech and casual writing, not in formal contexts.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
zilched past tense, zilches plural, zilches singular
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Etymology
Traces back to "Joe Zilch," an American placeholder name from 1920s vaudeville and newspaper columns, used the way "John Doe" is used today.