The humbling of the White House over the nuclear test ban treaty augurs poorly for President Clinton's being able to secure any crowning foreign policy achievement in the last year of his term.

And the most recent negotiations have been marked by a level of bitterness that augurs poorly for future economic cooperation.

But in some marriages, the absence of fights may augur poorly for a couple.

In fact, he said, it can augur poorly for the patient.

His views augur poorly for beleaguered straphangers, who are awaiting funding for long-overdue repairs to crumbling stations, unsafe track and signals, and aging subway cars and buses.

But the flow of money into money market funds may itself augur poorly for stock returns.

And the limited political reforms he has introduced since then augur poorly for next year's vote to choose his successor.

If the wedding night's a failure, that augurs poorly for crops and cattle.

After seven years of largely blissful beginnings, the Dow Jones industrial average recorded its first January loss, one that some market prognosticators believe may augur poorly for investors.

To the Editor: Granted that it augurs poorly for the written word when a book publisher turns an author's work into what you call a "billboard" ("The Weldon Connection," editorial, Sept. 7).