evacuate

[ ih-vak-yoo-eyt ]
See synonyms for: evacuateevacuated on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing.
  1. to leave empty; vacate.

  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.

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

  2. 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).

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

  4. to deprive: Fear evacuated their minds of reason.

  5. to produce a vacuum in.

verb (used without object),e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing.
  1. to leave a place because of military or other threats.

Origin of evacuate

1
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, -ate1

Other words for evacuate

Other words from evacuate

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

Words Nearby evacuate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use evacuate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for evacuate

evacuate

/ (ɪˈvækjʊˌeɪt) /


verb(mainly tr)
  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

  1. (also intr) physiol

    • to eliminate or excrete (faeces); defecate

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

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

Origin of evacuate

1
C16: from Latin ēvacuāre to void, from vacuus empty

Derived forms of evacuate

  • evacuation, noun
  • evacuative, adjective
  • evacuator, noun

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