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The phrase "comes up empty" is a correct and commonly used expression in written English.
It means to have no success or to fail at finding something or achieving a desired outcome. Example: After hours of searching for her missing necklace, Jane comes up empty and realizes she must have lost it somewhere else. Another example: Despite looking through all the cupboards and drawers, the detective comes up empty in his search for evidence of the crime.
Exact(21)
He comes up empty.
A second light comes up, empty.
Descalso swings and comes up empty at 2-1.
One scans her public speeches looking for a strong opinion, and one comes up empty.
A search of skeptic blogs for that particular statistic comes up empty, somehow.
If the hand comes up empty again, India's voters will push someone else's button next time.
Similar(35)
(The funeral is treated as a kind of homework assignment for the mourners, with Ned assigned to speak on Douglas's "philosophy". He comes up empty-handed).
In fact, on many searches that Google and Yahoo aced -- "Richard Nixon's dog," "fertility over 40" and "Britney wedding photos," for example -- the tech preview's first results page comes up empty-handed.
But don't feel bad if it comes up empty-handed; Mr. Stoppard's last venture on Broadway, "The Coast of Utopia," set a record for Tony wins for a play.
She comes up empty-handed.
Nick Bostrom, among others, hopes that the search for extraterrestrial life comes up empty-handed, because if life were found this would reduce the number of possible candidates for the great filter being behind us, and it would increase the likelihood that the great filter (possibly a great calamity) still lies ahead of us.
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Since I tried Ludwig back in 2017, I have been constantly using it in both editing and translation. Ever since, I suggest it to my translators at ProSciEditing.

Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak
CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com