null

American  

[nuhl] / nʌl /

adjective

1. without value, effect, consequence, or significance.

2. being or amounting to nothing; nil; lacking; nonexistent.

3. Mathematics. (of a set)

   1. empty.

   2. of measure zero.

4. being or amounting to zero.

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noun

1. Electronics. a point of minimum signal reception, as on a radio direction finder or other electronic meter.

verb (used with object)

1. to cancel; make null.

idioms

1. null and void, without legal force or effect; not valid.

   This contract is null and void.

null British  

/ nʌl /

adjective

1. without legal force; invalid; (esp in the phrase null and void )

2. without value or consequence; useless

3. lacking distinction; characterless

   a null expression

4. nonexistent; amounting to nothing

5. maths

   1. quantitatively zero

   2. relating to zero

   3. (of a set) having no members

   4. (of a sequence) having zero as a limit

6. physics involving measurement in which an instrument has a zero reading, as with a Wheatstone bridge

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null Scientific  

/ nŭl /

1. Of or relating to a set having no members or to zero magnitude.

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Etymology

Origin of null

1555–65; < Latin nūllus, equivalent to n ( e ) not + ūllus any

Explanation

Null means having no value; in other words null is zero, like if you put so little sugar in your coffee that it’s practically null. Null also means invalid, or having no binding force. From the Latin nullus, meaning "not any," poor, powerless null is not actually there at all. Or if it was, it’s gone now. Because null is basically nothing, zip, zilch, nada, and nix. What could be worse? Maybe being "null and void," which is a legal term making something really, really null. Null is the base of the word nullify, which means to make something invalid or to cancel something out.

Example Sentences

"This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void," the court said.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

And in February, as snow melted around the “No Industrial Solar” signs that stud the long country roads, a circuit court judge ruled that St. Clair County’s health regulation is “invalid, null, and void.”

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026

Prasad said the agency would no longer rely on certain study results to approve vaccines for pregnant women, saying “prior promises will be null and void.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025

“In cases where people buy properties sight unseen, it would be a stronger case that they made that contract under misleading pretenses and for it to be null and void,” Leben said.

From Slate • Oct. 17, 2025

All human claims to the landscape were superseded, made null and void by the snow.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

Related Words

• ineffective
• inoperative
• invalid
• unreal
• worthless