The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 5 plus 2 plus 7 letter word GO ROUND IN CIRCLES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
G
O
R
O
U
N
D
I
N
C
I
R
C
L
E
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "To get nowhere" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case to get nowhere = go round in circles.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.