vacate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to give up possession or occupancy of.
to vacate an apartment.
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to give up or relinquish (an office, position, etc.).
She recently vacated her position as president of the organization.
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to render inoperative; deprive of validity; void; annul.
to vacate a legal judgment.
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to cause to be empty or unoccupied; make vacant.
to vacate one's mind of worries.
verb (used without object)
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to withdraw from occupancy; surrender possession.
We will have to vacate when our lease expires.
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to give up or leave a position, office, etc.
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to leave; go away.
verb
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to cause (something) to be empty, esp by departing from or abandoning it
to vacate a room
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(also intr) to give up the tenure, possession, or occupancy of (a place, post, etc); leave or quit
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law
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to cancel or rescind
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to make void or of no effect; annul
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vacate
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin vacātus, past participle of vacāre “to be empty”; cf. vacuum
Explanation
If someone asks you to vacate the room, you'd better pack up your things and go. When you vacate something, you leave it behind, usually empty. When you stay at a hotel, you're required to vacate the room at check-out time. The same goes for the last day of your lease on your apartment or after closing on the sale of your house. In all of these cases, you've got to get going and take all of your stuff with you. The verb vacate can also be used in conjunction with leaving a job, often an appointed office.
Vocabulary lists containing vacate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Under normal circumstances, housing providers issue offending residents a 30-day Notice to Correct or Vacate that details the offending conduct and states how the transgression can be cured.
From Washington Post • Aug. 27, 2021
In the body of the Notice of Intent to Vacate, you must clearly state your intention to vacate the apartment on such and such a date.
From Encyclopedia.com • Sep. 19, 2018
Funeral Home Accepts Suspect’s Body, and Problems Another Order to Vacate at Site of Midtown Crane Residents were told they would have to leave their homes while the crane atop the tower One57 was repaired.
From New York Times • May 4, 2013
Evacuate, Vacate Evacuate means to make empty, and should not be used in the sense of to go away, to vacate.
From Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking by Bechtel, John Hendricks
Still—though he believed in greater absurdities—his attitude towards such matters was that of his chosen motto, Vacate et Videte.
From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
