evacuate

American  

[ih-vak-yoo-eyt] / ɪˈvæk yuˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

evacuated, evacuating

1. to leave empty; vacate.

   Synonyms:

   drain, void, empty

2. 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.

3. to remove persons from (a city, town, building, area, etc.) for reasons of safety.

   to evacuate the embassy after a bomb threat.

4. Military.

   1. to remove (troops, wounded soldiers, civilians, etc.) from a war zone, combat area, etc.

   2. to withdraw from or quit (a town, fort, etc., that has been occupied).

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

6. to deprive.

   Fear evacuated their minds of reason.

7. to produce a vacuum in.

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verb (used without object)

evacuated, evacuating

1. to leave a place because of military or other threats.

2. to void; defecate.

evacuate British  

/ ɪˈvækjʊˌeɪt /

verb

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

2. to make empty by removing the contents of

3. (also intr) physiol

   1. to eliminate or excrete (faeces); defecate

   2. to discharge (any waste product) from (a part of the body)

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

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Other Word Forms

• evacuation noun
• evacuative adjective
• evacuator noun
• reevacuate verb
• unevacuated adjective

Etymology

Origin of evacuate

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin ēvacuātus “emptied out” (past participle of ēvacuāre, equivalent to ē- + vacuāre ); see origin at e- ¹, vacuum, -ate ¹

Explanation

To evacuate is to flee, like how people leave an area when a hurricane is coming. It also means to empty something completely. If you have to evacuate your home, something horrible is probably happening, like a natural disaster. People evacuate when something like a tornado or act of terrorism makes their homes unsafe. To evacuate also means to empty completely, in the bathroom-oriented sense of evacuating (emptying) your bowels. Similarly, if a chemist empties and therefore creates a vacuum in a flask, she has evacuated the flask. When you evacuate, you clear out.

Example Sentences

Aircraft with fewer people are easier to evacuate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

“Aquaman” star Jason Momoa has revealed he was forced to evacuate his family’s Hawaii home after a dangerous storm devastated the area with historic flooding.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

OEM officials also said that an early alert to the 210 corridor could “create confusion and non-compliance,” given the high likelihood that those areas could later get an alert to evacuate.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Lance also said that his company had to evacuate a number of staff over the last few weeks, adding that the situation has been difficult to assess.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

The Turkish Army is only thirty miles away—and no ships arrive from Athens to evacuate the refugees.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Related Words

• abandon
• depart
• desert
• discharge
• displace
• expel
• leave
• move out
• pull out
• remove
• vacate
• withdraw