What's the difference between avail and vain?

Avail


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To turn to the advantage of; to be of service to; to profit; to benefit; to help; as, artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.
  • (v. t.) To promote; to assist.
  • (v. i.) To be of use or advantage; to answer the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object; as, the plea in bar must avail, that is, be sufficient to defeat the suit; this scheme will not avail; medicines will not avail to check the disease.
  • (n.) Profit; advantage toward success; benefit; value; as, labor, without economy, is of little avail.
  • (n.) Proceeds; as, the avails of a sale by auction.
  • (v. t. & i.) See Avale, v.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) However, medicines have an important part to play, and it is now generally agreed that for the very poor populations medicines should be restricted to those on an 'essential drugs list' and should be made available as cheaply as possible.
  • (2) These results demonstrate that increased availability of galactose, a high-affinity substrate for the enzyme, leads to increased aldose reductase messenger RNA, which suggests a role for aldose reductase in sugar metabolism in the lens.
  • (3) After 55 days of unrestricted food availability the body weight of the neonatally deprived rats was approximately 15% lower than that of the controls.
  • (4) Since 1979 there has been an increase of 17,122 in the number of beds available in nursing homes.
  • (5) Despite of the increasing diagnostic importance of the direct determination of the parathormone which is at first available only in special institutions in these cases methodical problems play a less important part than the still not infrequent appearing misunderstanding of the adequate basic disease.
  • (6) The availability and success of changes in reproductive technology should lead to a reappraisal of the indications for hysterectomy, especially in young women.
  • (7) In choosing between various scanning techniques the factors to be considered include availability, cost, the type of equipment, the expertise of the medical and technical staff, and the inherent capabilities of the system.
  • (8) The presently available data allow us to draw the following conclusions: 1) G proteins play a mediatory role in the transmission of the signal(s) generated upon receptor occupancy that leads to the observed cytoskeletal changes.
  • (9) Data is available to support the early influences of enamel organ epithelium upon a responding mesenchyme in the determination of dental morphogenetic fields (Dryburg, 1967; Miller, 1969).
  • (10) Helsby, who joined the estate agent in 1980, saw his basic salary unchanged at £225,000, but gains a £610,000 windfall in shares, available from May, as well as a £363,000 increase in cash and shares under the company profits-sharing scheme.
  • (11) A two-year follow-up was available for fifty-nine of the treated knees.
  • (12) Cicaprost is an orally available analogue of PGI2 and has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation in both in vitro and animal studies.
  • (13) A retrospective study examined the reactions to the termination of pregnancy for fetal malformation and the follow up services that were available.
  • (14) A reduction in neonatal deaths from this cause might be expected if facilities for antenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy were made available, although this raises grave ethical problems.
  • (15) Immunochemical techniques, in particular ELISA are available for only a very limited number of NM (e.g.
  • (16) During the interview process, nurse applicants frequently inquire about the availability of such a program and have been very favorably impressed when we have been able to offer them this approach to orientation.
  • (17) The M&S Current Account, which has no monthly fee, is available from 15 May and is offering people the chance to bank and shop under one roof.
  • (18) The use of fresh semen is possible, since results of appropriate cultures could be available and treatment instituted before clinical disease occurs.
  • (19) The purposes of this study were to locate games and simulations available for nursing education, to categorize these materials to make them more accessible for nurse educators, and to determine how nursing's use of instructional games might be enhanced.
  • (20) The availability of locus-specific probes should significantly expand the role of minisatellite markers in population biology.

Vain


Definition:

  • (superl.) Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
  • (superl.) Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
  • (superl.) Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
  • (superl.) Showy; ostentatious.
  • (n.) Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase in vain.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) For example, if we purchase new examination equipment without any consideration or if we decide what type of equipment to introduce according to the common advice of the purchase committee of the hospital or the medical school, then we cannot design an ideal system of laboratory examinations and are forced to invest a large sum of money in vain.
  • (2) The George Bush campaign juggernaut hit the first serious pothole of its cash-fuelled drive to the presidency yesterday, as the Texas governor tried in vain to fend off questions about whether he had used cocaine as a young man.
  • (3) Full set list, show one (thanks to princevault.com ) Take Me With U (acoustic) Raspberry Beret (acoustic) U Got The Look (acoustic) Instrumental jam (acoustic) Train In Vain (acoustic) Q & A (1) incl.
  • (4) VaIN rarely is an isolated lesion and frequently is preceded by, or coexists with, other types of premalignant genital squamous neoplasia.
  • (5) He’s the kind of self-styled intellectual journalist in politics who caused so much trouble in 20th century politics, not a bad man, decent enough in his way, but not as smart as he thinks he is, vain with it.
  • (6) For long spells, West Ham searched in vain for inspiration as they tried to find a way past Newcastle United’s defence and end a run of three matches without a win.
  • (7) Further, in a vain attempt for a boost in the Hoosier State, Cruz unveiled former rival Carly Fiorina as his running mate if he receives the nomination and was able to cajole the state’s sitting governor, Mike Pence, into an endorsement.
  • (8) The next few days may well determine whether, this time, such loyalty will be in vain; but, while yearning for a clarion call and what was described as "vision" in this paper's leading article yesterday, I need to pose some pretty stark questions to Guardian readers.
  • (9) He aims to put his newspapers, including the Times and the Sun, behind a paywall, something described by the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, as a vain attempt to "put the genie back in the bottle".
  • (10) In vain I argued that Robin Day seemed to wear the same jacket and shirt every week, and fled back to radio."
  • (11) Now I can feel that my son's blood wasn't totally lost in vain.
  • (12) In vain will Cameron plead that blame should lie with Brown and his Labour colleagues.
  • (13) At a media day held to mark the completion of the training and arranged before the tragedy, soldier after soldier came forward to insist that, though they were apprehensive, they were determined to do a good job, partly to make sure that their six colleagues had not died in vain.
  • (14) He somehow scrambled to deuce and delighted in forcing Dimitrov to chase in vain from one side of the court to the other to go 6-5 up.
  • (15) Assessment of patients between 9 and 99 (mean 55) months after partial colpectomy for VAIN showed no recurrence of disease in ten patients (83%).
  • (16) The scientific establishment struggled in vain to produce evidence that would reassure the public.
  • (17) No grieving wants to go through that, and our city doesn’t want to go through that.” Murphy said an accelerated program to equip Baltimore police officers with body cameras would mean Gray “did not die in vain”.
  • (18) His mother has said she tried in vain to get help for him.
  • (19) But he flailed in vain as the police officers grabbed him, one forcing his T-shirt roughly up over his head as three or four others laid in with their wooden batons, dragging and pushing him to a line of waiting Land Cruisers and more helmeted cops.
  • (20) As Steve spends half his money trying in vain to keep a scowl off Michelle's face and the rest comfort eating, Liz stumped up half the cash.