youdao

Some say that so many had perished during its construction, that no one dared halt the work and thereby admit that it had all been in vain.

有些人说在建造的过程中毁坏了这么多，使得没人敢停下工程并从而承认它全是徒然。

youdao

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

所以我亲爱的弟兄们，你们务要坚固不可摇动，常常竭力多作主工，因为知道你们的劳苦，在主里面不是徒然的。

youdao

America's true unemployment rate may, in fact,be higher than the number provided by the Labor Department, which does not include people who searched for work in vain and have given up, or those who settled for part-time work.

VOA: standard.2009.07.02

All he did was work in the souks, the old markets of Aleppo, waiting in vain for the tourists to come back.

CNN: In Syria, searching for loved one taken away

But they are afraid of spending money in vain attempts that won't work.

WSJ: Americans oppose paying for storm-ravaged beaches

Trier and his co-scenarist, Eskil Vogt, have a keen sense of the rivalries and resentments at work in an ingrown circle of friends, but the vain gamesmanship pushes it to the sidelines.

NEWYORKER: Reprise