How to Use empty-handed in a Sentence

empty-handed

adjective

• Thus far, this search has turned up empty-handed.
  — Robert Lea, Space.com, 10 Apr. 2026
• But there’s good news for fans who have come up empty-handed.
  — Emily Heil, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
• The search turned up empty-handed, but that did not stop them.
  — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2025
• But life gets in the way, and people get stuck at the store empty-handed.
  — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026
• She's come back empty-handed every time.
  — Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 6 Apr. 2026
• Both women come back empty-handed, but not for lack of trying.
  — Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2023
• Any good house guest knows not to ever arrive empty-handed.
  — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 21 Dec. 2025
• Some went to extreme lengths to ensure they wouldn’t be left empty-handed.
  — Kyle Glaser, Orange County Register, 16 May 2024
• That doesn’t mean the Dodgers will emerge from the trade deadline empty-handed.
  — Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2023
• But the researchers packed up four hours later, empty-handed.
  — Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2023
• But the Blue Jays have left each of these sweepstakes empty-handed.
  — Dan Perry, Newsweek, 2 Jan. 2025
• More than two-thirds go away empty-handed, according to one of cooks working there.
  — NBC News, 18 Jan. 2025
• The royals didn't leave the party empty-handed.
  — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2026
• The inning, though, showed fight and a stubborn refusal to slink away empty-handed.
  — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 May 2024
• Many others have returned empty-handed after crowds grabbed all the food.
  — Anas Baba, NPR, 6 July 2025
• But for a third straight year, Buffalo went home empty-handed.
  — Scott Thompson, Fox News, 3 Feb. 2025
• The Oilers deserved some points — maybe as many as four — but came up empty-handed.
  — Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The Athletic, 15 Dec. 2024
• The Royals came up empty-handed.
  — Kansas City Star, 19 May 2026
• The Royals were left empty-handed.
  — Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2025
• Even those who arrive early often leave the food sites empty-handed as food quickly runs out.
  — Daniel Estrin, NPR, 26 June 2025
• With so many big names in contention, at least one is almost guaranteed to go home empty-handed.
  — Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 28 Jan. 2025
• The Nets aren’t walking into this stretch empty-handed.
  — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2026
• That fellow ended up walking out empty-handed, as did a man who ditched a full cart near the entrance.
  — Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
• But mostly the fans at shows reach out empty-handed—no cellphones, hardly any cameras.
  — Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2026
• Luckily for the rest of the golfers, not everyone goes home empty-handed.
  — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 17 May 2026
• In a blink, the inning ended and the Giants were empty-handed.
  — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 27 May 2026
• Needing to get home to their two papillons, the couple leave empty-handed.
  — Cathy Alter, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2023
• But as for Koala’s cause of death, scientists are coming up empty-handed.
  — Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024
• Getting cash should never be the reason someone walks out empty-handed.
  — Elie Y. Katz, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
• Killers went home empty-handed on Sunday night, one of the rare times that’s happened this season.
  — Joe Reid, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2024