null
null — adjective
1. not recognized or accepted by the law because it fails to meet legal requirement
not recognized or accepted by the law because it fails to meet legal requirements
The court declared the old contract null because it was signed under pressure.
passive: declared + noun + null
After the merger, several clauses in the agreement became null and void.
collocation: null and void
Judge Tomás ruled the fine null since the law had changed.
Emma asked a lawyer whether her landlord's notice was null under local housing law.
- valid
having full legal force
文法句型
be + null
declare + noun + null
用法筆記
Often paired with 'void' in the fixed phrase 'null and void', a legal formula that reinforces the meaning. Subject is typically a document, agreement, ruling, or legal act.
常見錯誤
2. producing no useful result or having no real importance
producing no useful result or having no real importance
Without proper funding, all our planning efforts are effectively null.
adverb + null: effectively null
Élise felt that her years of training were null once she lost the championship.
The promise turned out to be null when the company refused to honour it.
Hassan realised that his apology was null if he kept repeating the same mistake.
- worthless
more common in everyday speech for things of no material or practical value
- meaningless
focuses on lack of purpose or significance rather than outcome
- futile
emphasises that an attempt produced no result despite effort
- valuable
having worth or importance
文法句型
be + null
用法筆記
Frequently used with verbs like 'prove', 'become', 'render', or 'turn out to be'. Common in figurative contexts where effort, promise, or value is negated.
常見錯誤
3. in mathematics or computing, containing no members or consisting entirely of zer
in mathematics or computing, containing no members or consisting entirely of zeros
João noticed that the spreadsheet tracking the closed project was a null matrix, with every entry set to zero.
attributive: null + noun (null matrix)
The database returned a null result when Takeshi searched for that product.
Maeve's search for books by that author returned a null set — the library had none of his titles.
Obi learned that a null character marks the end of a string in C programming.
- non-null
in computing, a value that exists and is not empty
文法句型
null + noun
be + null
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 2 (worthless/meaningless): this sense is purely technical and describes the mathematical property of emptiness or zero. In computing, 'null' often refers to a pointer or value that points to nothing.
常見錯誤
null — noun
1. in computing, a special marker that indicates the absence of data rather than a
in computing, a special marker that indicates the absence of data rather than a genuine zero or empty string
The programmer checked if the variable contained a null before running the calculation.
collocation: contain a null
Quinn's code crashed because the function returned a null instead of a number.
The system displays an error message when it receives a null from the database.
Emma's application kept crashing because it did not check for null before reading the file.
- value
a meaningful piece of data
文法句型
return + null
be + null
check + for + null
用法筆記
In programming languages, null is not the same as zero. Zero is a numeric value; null means 'no value at all'. Subject is typically a variable, function, database, or system.
常見錯誤
null — verb
1. to make something lose its effect or force by doing something equally powerful w
to make something lose its effect or force by doing something equally powerful with the opposite outcome
The company's strong sales growth helped null the losses from the previous year.
null + object (effect)
Samir took on extra projects to null the budget cuts' effect on his team.
This buffer solution can null the acidity of the added chemicals.
The new policy did little to null the dissatisfaction among the night-shift workers.
- nullify
the more common verb form; preferred in most contexts
- cancel out
more informal; describes two opposing forces removing each other's effect
- negate
formal; emphasises logical opposition rather than practical counterbalance
- reinforce
to strengthen rather than remove an effect
文法句型
null + noun phrase
用法筆記
Much less common than the synonym 'nullify' in everyday English. This verb is found mainly in formal, technical, or computing contexts where a short verb is preferred.