ни за понюх табаку

• НИ ЗА ПОНЮШКУ <ПОНЮХ> ТАБАКУ пропасть, погибнуть, погубить кого etc highly coll

[PrepP; these forms only; adv; more often used with pfv verbs]

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⇒ (to die, be killed, have one's career destroyed etc, or to kill s.o., destroy s.o.'s career etc) purposelessly, finitely, needlessly:

- (all) for naught <for nothing>;

- in vain;

- to no purpose;

- for no (good) reason.

     ♦ И там... на песке жгли костёр. Смоляное говорил, что там ютится шпана, ходить опасно. Вот если сейчас спуститься вниз - свободно прирежут, ни за понюх табаку (Трифонов 1). Down on the sand...someone had lighted a campfire. Smolyanov told her that this was a gathering place for various criminal types and that the area was unsafe. And if they were to venture down there right now, somebody might knife them-just like that, for no good reason (1a).