void

[void]

adjective

1. Law.,  having no legal force or effect; not legally binding or enforceable.

2. useless; ineffectual; vain.

3. devoid; destitute (usually followed byof ).

   a life void of meaning.

4. without contents; empty.

5. without an incumbent, as an office.

   Synonyms: unoccupied, vacant

6. Mathematics.,  (of a set) containing no elements; empty.

7. (in cards) having no cards in a suit.

noun

1. an empty space; emptiness.

   He disappeared into the void.

   Synonyms: lack, absence, vacuum

2. something experienced as a loss or privation.

   His death left a great void in her life.

3. a gap or opening, as in a wall.

4. Typography.,  counter.

5. (in cards) lack of cards in a suit.

   a void in clubs.

verb (used with object)

1. to make ineffectual; invalidate; nullify.

   to void a check.

2. to empty; discharge; evacuate.

   to void excrement.

3. to clear or empty (often followed byof ).

   to void a chamber of occupants.

4. Archaic.,  to depart from; vacate.

verb (used without object)

1. to defecate or urinate.

void

/ vɔɪd /

adjective

1. without contents; empty

2. not legally binding

   null and void

3. (of an office, house, position, etc) without an incumbent; unoccupied

4. destitute or devoid

   void of resources

5. having no effect; useless

   all his efforts were rendered void

6. (of a card suit or player) having no cards in a particular suit

   his spades were void

noun

1. an empty space or area

   the huge desert voids of Asia

2. a feeling or condition of loneliness or deprivation

   his divorce left him in a void

3. a lack of any cards in one suit

   to have a void in spades

4. Also called: counter. the inside area of a character of type, such as the inside of an o

verb

1. to make ineffective or invalid

2. to empty (contents, etc) or make empty of contents

3. (also intr) to discharge the contents of (the bowels or urinary bladder)

4. archaic,  to vacate (a place, room, etc)

5. obsolete,  to expel

Other Word Forms

• voidness noun
• nonvoid adjective
• prevoid verb (used with object)
• unvoid adjective
• unvoidness noun
• voider noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of void¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; (adjective) Middle English voide, from Anglo-French, Old French voide, voit, vuide, vuit ( French vide ), from unattested Vulgar Latin vocīta, vocita feminine of vocītus, vocitus unattested and dissimilated variant of Latin vacīvus, vocīvus, “empty”; vacuum; (verb) Middle English voiden, from Anglo-French voider, Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin vocitāre, derivative of unattested vocītus, vocitus; (noun) derivative of the adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of void¹

C13: from Old French vuide, from Vulgar Latin vocītus (unattested), from Latin vacuus empty, from vacāre to be empty

Idioms and Phrases

see null and void.

Synonym Study

See empty.

Example Sentences

So, plenty of talented acolytes filled the void McLachlan left during her lengthy hiatus, and “it was really an easy shift for me to step out of the limelight,” she admits.

From Los Angeles Times

He was instead the godfather of the “Debate Me” Bros, purveyors of a prevalent internet-based entertainment format that, in an era nearly void of substantive debate, is too often passed off as such.

From Salon

After retirement he was candid about his struggles with drinking and mental health as he tried to fill a void in his life.

From BBC

It will now fall to Wissa, the club's number nine, and record signing Nick Woltemade to help fill the void left by the Swede.

From BBC

Ballmer and other team executives could be suspended, and perhaps Leonard’s contract could be voided.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abrogate 
• annul 
• dissolve 
• invalidate 
• rescind 
• vacate