evacuate

[ ih-vak-yoo-eyt ]

/ ɪˈvæk yuˌeɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR evacuate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing.

to leave empty; vacate.

to remove (persons or things) from a place, as a dangerous place or disaster area, for reasons of safety or protection: to evacuate the inhabitants of towns in the path of a flood.

to remove persons from (a city, town, building, area, etc.) for reasons of safety: to evacuate the embassy after a bomb threat.

Military.

to remove (troops, wounded soldiers, civilians, etc.) from a war zone, combat area, etc.
to withdraw from or quit (a town, fort, etc., that has been occupied).

Physiology. to discharge or eject as through the excretory passages, especially from the bowels.

to deprive: Fear evacuated their minds of reason.

to produce a vacuum in.

verb (used without object), e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing.

to leave a place because of military or other threats.

to void; defecate.

Nearby words

Origin of evacuate

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin ēvacuātus (past participle of ēvacuāre to empty out, equivalent to ē- e-¹ + vacuāre to empty); see vacuum, -ate¹

Related formsre·e·vac·u·ate, verb, re·e·vac·u·at·ed, re·e·vac·u·at·ing.un·e·vac·u·at·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for evacuate

But where do you evacuate to, when the world is about to end?
The Stacks: How The Berlin Wall Inspired John le Carré’s First Masterpiece|John le Carré|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
De Merode was ordered to evacuate the national park he served at the time.
A Belgian Prince, Gorillas, Guerrillas & the Future of the Congo|Nina Strochlic|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was helping to evacuate people from the stricken North Tower when the second plane hit.
The President and the Tow Truck Driver|Michael Daly|September 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is no plan as of yet to evacuate Dr. Brantly to a Western facility, Isaacs said.
Two Americans Have Now Been Diagnosed With Ebola in Record Outbreak|Kent Sepkowitz|July 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Earlier this month, the friendliest of them, 31-year-old Denis, told us they were given very short notice to evacuate Sloviansk.
I Was Snatched at the MH17 ‘Morgue’|Anna Nemtsova|July 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A month later the town of Alexandria capitulated, and the French army was allowed to evacuate Egypt.
London and the Kingdom - Volume III|Reginald R. Sharpe
We'll have to evacuate the tube to get her in perfect balance.
Psichopath|Gordon Randall Garrett
Buell, before starting northward in pursuit of Bragg, was about to evacuate Nashville.
The Secret Service.|Albert D. Richardson
The Persians upon this had to evacuate their strong position, and to retire to a lower range of hills very near to Pasargadge.
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media|George Rawlinson
We shall be compelled to evacuate our storehouse and to seek another, as the rats are doing prodigious havoc to the stores.
Letters of George Borrow|George Borrow

British Dictionary definitions for evacuate

evacuate

/ (ɪˈvækjʊˌeɪt) /

verb (mainly tr)

(also intr) to withdraw or cause to withdraw from (a place of danger) to a place of greater safety

to make empty by removing the contents of

(also intr) physiol

to eliminate or excrete (faeces); defecate
to discharge (any waste product) from (a part of the body)

(tr) to create a vacuum in (a bulb, flask, reaction vessel, etc)

Derived Formsevacuation, nounevacuative, adjectiveevacuator, noun

Word Origin for evacuate

C16: from Latin ēvacuāre to void, from vacuus empty

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for evacuate

evacuate

1520s, from Latin evacuatus, past participle of evacuare "to empty, make void, nullify," used by Pliny in reference to the bowels, used figuratively in Late Latin for "clear out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + vacuus "empty" (see vacuum).

Earliest sense in English is medical. Meaning "remove inhabitants to safer ground" is from 1934. Replaced Middle English evacuen (c.1400). Related: Evacuated; evacuating.

Medicine definitions for evacuate

evacuate

[ ĭ-văk′yōō-āt′ ]

v.

To empty or remove the contents of.

To excrete or discharge waste matter, especially of the bowels.

evacuate

verb (used with object), e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing.

verb (used without object), e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing.

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Origin of evacuate

Examples from the Web for evacuate

evacuate

verb (mainly tr)

Word Origin for evacuate

evacuate

evacuate

v.