zamàn in vain, vainly; to no purpose, to no profit; ineffectually, unavailingly, fruitlessly
zamàn govoriti to waste words
vse je bilo zamàn it was all to no effect, it was all for nothing, it came to nothing, it achieved nothing
zamàn se mučiti to labour in vain
trud je bil zamàn the efforts proved abortive
zamàn trošiti to waste, to squander
zamàn se truditi (figurativno) to beat the air, to beat one's head against a brick wall