vacate
Americanverb (used with object)
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vacates,
present (3rd person singular)
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vacated,
past participle, past
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vacating
present participle
-
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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vacates,
present (3rd person singular)
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vacated,
past participle, past
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vacating
present participle
-
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:
Sheriff’s deputies then help oversee the removal of encampments, and people who refuse to vacate after being offered services could be subject to arrest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Having a conviction thrown out is not enough to do so: A court can vacate someone’s conviction for a number of reasons, including an ineffective attorney or significant errors committed by the judge or prosecution.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
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
The court’s decision was that the order to vacate would not be altered.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Boston-based Judge Burroughs wrote in Wednesday's ruling: "The Court vacates and sets aside the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters as violative of the First Amendment."
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2025
South Korea’s constitution stipulates that the prime minister, then a descending order of Cabinet officials, can take over if the president vacates his position or is otherwise unable to carry out his duties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2024
The other eight Seattle City Council members, including the new ones who take office in January, will have 20 days to appoint a replacement for Position 8 once Mosqueda vacates.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
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 law itself vacates the office, and gives the means of rewarding a friend without the exercise of the power of removal at all.
From The Great Speeches and Orations of Daniel Webster With an Essay on Daniel Webster as a Master of English Style by Daniel Webster
The 17,000 acres they vacated would be dedicated to conservation and ecological restoration — with a few cattle remaining to feast on invasive species.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
And it isn’t just Brooks: Since taking office two years ago, Murrill has opposed all but one of 23 compensation claims brought by people whose convictions have been vacated by the courts.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
It stopped making bikes in the city decades ago, and in 2024 it vacated its headquarters on Church Street in Eastwood to move to new premises less than a mile away.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
About 3,000 other people have been evacuated from the region where the Clooneys live, and an additional 224,000 people have vacated the Gironde region of France, CNN reports.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Meanwhile Dad had been checking each floor was vacated, the last tenants all gone.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Republican Tom Sell, the nominee in the West Texas seat that Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, is vacating, has millions of dollars worth of assets.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Both full-backs took wider positions with Rice and Bellingham vacating the holding midfield areas for Harry Kane to drop in and join Anderson.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 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 is filling the space religion is vacating?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
The junior students who were moving into the vacating classes’ chairs were tradition-bound to show their talents for leadership and management.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
