of little avail

of little avail

Of or having very little or no benefit, efficacy, or effect. We did our best to keep Sarah from finding out about her dad, but it was of little avail. I protested of little avail to keep Jeff in the company.
See also: avail, little, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

of little/no aˈvail

(formal) of little or no use: Your ability to argue is of little avail if you get your facts wrong.
See also: avail, little, no, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • of little/no avail
  • to little avail
  • to little/no avail
  • be little love lost between (two people)
  • financially embarrassed
  • think little of
  • think little of (someone or something)
  • standing on one's head
  • with (one's) eyes shut
  • with eyes closed
References in classic literature
It will be of little avail to call upon your people, for my feet are fleeter than theirs."
It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.
"That cannot be; but all that I can say will be of little avail. My revenge is of no moment to you; yet, while I allow it to be a vice, I confess that it is the devouring and only passion of my soul.
But our aid was of little avail and only involved us in the same peril.
This would, however, have been of little avail, if the Indians had come; but his chief comfort seemed to rest in the thought of selling his life dearly.
This is of little avail, however, since almost none of the sexual partners available to the female guests are capable of fathering a child with any reasonable prospect of success in life.
Sponges and mats were of little avail at Wadham Road where Ormskirk's main challengers, Firwood Bootle and Northern, saw their match come to an early conclusion with the home side on 38-0 in reply to their visitors' 179-9 declared.
It will, however, be of little avail unless those MPs who advocated a Remain vote in the June referendum find the courage to act in accordance with their convictions.
This bloodletting just does not seem to stop and even the US led assault on its strongholds seem to be of little avail. Once ensconced in urban enclaves getting rid of the cadres is almost impossible without severely generating collateral damage.
"It will be of little avail to the people,'' he wrote, "that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.''
Bingo in the money Front-running tactics were of little avail to Bingo Lady in her previous efforts over hurdles but she ran his rivals into submission in the 3m hurdle, despite her trainer Kieran Purcell having concerns over the quick ground beforehand.
Arm-swinging and -waving are of little avail if you're faced with this challenge.
League action saw Formby come from behind twice with a brace from Paul Wordley to share the spoils against fellow strugglers Abbey Hey, but the point proved to be of little avail as the side immediately above, Nelson, also recorded a 2-2 draw to damage the promotion hopes of Nantwich Town who had led twice through Danny Griggs and Murray McCulloch.
But it is also of little avail to compel the student of science to 'take' some courses in the departments of 'humanities.' According to the record of all people I know, the mentality of the average science student is such that he will not sufficiently appreciate these courses, and therefore not assimilate them well.