This turned out a fruitless mission.

Administration officials said Secretary Powell was reluctant to squander his stature on fruitless missions and wanted to be sure that when he finally did go he would have an impact.

After he was sent on an ultimately fruitless diplomatic mission to stop the fighting, he was appointed master of the ordnance, a post he held until 1798.

Today, the fool of the family was sent off on a fruitless mission to a distant part of the solar system.

It also leaves Sonny so peeved that he sics his goons on a fruitless mission to eliminate the invincible Spot.

In June 1583 Bowes set sail with Pisensky for Russia, on what turned out to be a fruitless mission.

First send me to Estcarp on a fruitless mission, then drive me out again.

To the final port in a fruitless mission.

So far their "big offensive" had been no different from a hundred other fruitless missions they had been on.

In 1814, after the abdication, the Empress sent him on a fruitless mission to the Emperor of Austria.