HyperDic: lost_cause

English > 1 sense of the expression *lost cause*:
NOUN	act	lost cause	a defeated cause or a cause for which defeat is inevitable

English > *lost cause*: 1 sense > noun 1, act
Meaning	A defeated cause or a cause for which defeat is inevitable.
Broader	campaign, cause, crusade, drive, movement, effort	A series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end