vacate
Americanverb (used with object)
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vacates,
present (3rd person singular)
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vacated,
past participle, past
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vacating
present participle
-
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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vacates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vacated,
past participle, past
-
vacating
present participle
-
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
-
to cancel or rescind
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to make void or of no effect; annul
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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vacatesimple
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vacatessimple
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have vacatedperfect
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has vacatedperfect
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am vacatingprogressive
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are vacatingprogressive
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is vacatingprogressive
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have been vacatingperfect progressive
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has been vacatingperfect progressive
Past
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vacatedsimple
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had vacatedperfect
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was vacatingprogressive
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were vacatingprogressive
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had been vacatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
Seaver and his security company were subsequently served with a termination notice directing them to immediately vacate the Parton properties they had been tasked with protecting.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
He has already said he will vacate the title and move back up in weight if he beats Garcia.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
That was until Friday, when the O.C. district attorney’s office decided to set aside his guilty plea and vacate the conviction, following a review from its Conviction Integrity Unit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Having a conviction thrown out is not enough to do so: A court can vacate someone’s conviction for a number of reasons, including an ineffective attorney or significant errors committed by the judge or prosecution.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Faces appeared at the windows on either side of the street, while a little knot of prosperous-looking passersby gathered their robes about them and broke into gentle trots, keen to vacate the scene.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Monday's decision vacates an earlier ruling by federal judge James Boasberg, later upheld by a federal appeals court, which had temporarily blocked the use of the law to carry out the deportations.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2025
The other eight Seattle City Council members, including the new ones who take office in January, will have 20 days to appoint a replacement for Position 8 once Mosqueda vacates.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
While the appeal is pending, the law is allowed to take effect; the same would be true if the higher court rules in the attorney general’s favor and vacates the lower court’s injunction.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2023
They remain able to charge whatever they want for apartments once a tenant vacates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
Corruption on the part of underlings, of which they have known nothing, vacates an election.
From The Canadian Commonwealth by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut
Rookie Markel Bell started in Johnson’s place on Sunday, and Sirianni suggested the third-round pick will remain in the spot vacated by Johnson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
After pursuing the lengthier sentence against Beaird and defending it on appeal, the federal government now argues that his sentence should be vacated so that he can pursue a more lenient term.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
I saw the ruling pop up on the screen: the Supreme Court unanimously vacated my convictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
When Oleksandr Usyk vacated the IBF title and Frank Sanchez agreed to step aside, Itauma's fight with Hrgovic was elevated into a world-title contest.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
When Comrade Pillai arrived, he was ushered into the seat that Baby Kochamma had only recently vacated.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
"Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok's predecessor, Musical.ly," the department said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Republican Tom Sell, the nominee in the West Texas seat that Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, is vacating, has millions of dollars worth of assets.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Against Croatia, as England passed the ball backwards, Declan Rice moved into a wide-left position vacating the centre of the pitch for Harry Kane to drop into alongside Elliot Anderson.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Tenants who occupied the lower four floors are vacating, and a seismic upgrade will begin later this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
The junior students who were moving into the vacating classes’ chairs were tradition-bound to show their talents for leadership and management.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
