bring to naught

To frustrate; to bring to naught; to annihilate.

But incidents such as these, which bring to naught all human calculation, can, indeed must, be left out of account, when considering the character of a given moment, and the prospects of peace or war.

Could a parson, could magistrates bring to naught what had been for centuries?

That heritage sublime Our sires have left us, wisdom old as time, No word of man, how deep soe'er his thought And won of subtlest toil, may bring to naught.

In the disregard of the character of means so that the end be good lies a peril which, if not subdued, may bring to naught all the noblest efforts of our womanhood in the twentieth century.