futile effort

I put my hand up in a futile effort to hide it.

"He came here in a futile effort to rescue a failed case."

His parents had wasted themselves in a futile effort to persuade the King to their cause.

After a futile effort no attempt was made to turn them back.

As though someone else were doing it for me, my hand went out in a futile effort to find a pulse.

It was making futile efforts to climb up after us.

Many industry experts expect the meeting to be a futile effort.

She shook her head in a futile effort to clear it and made a grab for common sense.

"I should think you would find that a futile effort."

He'd put them to his throat in a futile effort to stay the flow.