But Grinnell's system, and Taylor's play, made it futile.
The intense shame about AIDS and the resulting secrecy make it futile to try to determine how many Japanese are infected by H.I.V.
But the timing of Mr. Romney's assault, after Mr. Trump's commanding electoral victories in seven states on Tuesday, may make it futile.
The network could fail, or the person with the phone could turn it off, making it futile as a monitor and perhaps causing more concern.
Preferably, by making it futile for them to try to buy our government, this strategy of neutralization will result in both them and me both backing off.
This attitude, combined with reluctance to spend valuable time ashore training and to accept the potential loss of income while attending safety courses, makes it difficult, if not futile, to offer safety courses for fishermen on a voluntary basis.
But the Sun's weak X-ray output made it seem futile to try to detect any other star this way.
"The constitutional prerogative of the president," said Mr. Bush's chief spokeswoman, Dana M. Perino, "would make it a futile effort for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys".
Shen up now to get the besaysf VICE Canada delivered sthatght to your ifbox.
But he says it would never pass the Legislature, and he has made it a point to avoid futile battles.
My hair is large, frizzy, having its own struggle against my futile efforts to make it "presentable".
