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
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:
Four buildings are still under a full vacate order.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
In this case, you would need to file an appeal with an appellate court, a motion to modify alimony, and/or a motion to vacate a prior order.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk says he will vacate all his belts - but is not retiring.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
A federal judge denied the Department of Justice’s motion to vacate an order quashing subpoenas, citing harassment of former Fed chair Jerome Powell.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
A court had made it clear that Malcolm X and his family would have to vacate the Elmhurst house for its return to the adjudged legal owners, Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Zubimendi, like the others, vacates his position based on the movements of team-mates.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
Where Mehretu saturates space, Sorey vacates it, yet both painter and composer offer vital examples of how to create at full scale when the times impel others to reduce their ambition.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
The signing of Barr was the next step — an important piece for depth at the position Parsons vacates when he joins the defensive front.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2022
They remain able to charge whatever they want for apartments once a tenant vacates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
In committees of the whole the regular presiding officer usually vacates the chair, calling some other member of the body to act as chairman.
From Elements of Civil Government by Peterman, Alexander L.
The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court unanimously vacated Granillo’s conviction but split 3–2 over the governing rule.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
A US appeals court on Monday vacated the dismissal of hundreds of private lawsuits against Tylenol-maker Kenvue that allege scientifically unproven ties of the painkiller to autism.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Nicholls, though, would not be denied, filling the gap vacated by the retirement of Kane Williamson with his 11th Test century.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
On the third hand, there’s the $111 billion and yet highly transitory elephant that has vacated the sofa.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
If Cool Papa was talking to Clayton through the homeless woman, his spirit had vacated her now slumped-over body.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Declan Rice pulled into a wide position, vacating his central midfield position, leaving space into which Harry Kane would drop deep.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 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 judge stated that vacating the decision would allow parties to erase unfavorable rulings and hinder the accumulation of legal precedents.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
“What we’re seeing is, with the U.S. vacating the space, everyone else is kind of going back to where they were before we dragged them into this modality.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 13, 2026
But the streets and the square were emptying fast; the old men were folding up their newspapers and vacating their benches.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
