vacate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to give up possession or occupancy of.
to vacate an apartment.
-
to give up or relinquish (an office, position, etc.).
She recently vacated her position as president of the organization.
-
to render inoperative; deprive of validity; void; annul.
to vacate a legal judgment.
-
to cause to be empty or unoccupied; make vacant.
to vacate one's mind of worries.
verb (used without object)
-
to withdraw from occupancy; surrender possession.
We will have to vacate when our lease expires.
-
to give up or leave a position, office, etc.
-
to leave; go away.
verb
-
to cause (something) to be empty, esp by departing from or abandoning it
to vacate a room
-
(also intr) to give up the tenure, possession, or occupancy of (a place, post, etc); leave or quit
-
law
-
to cancel or rescind
-
to make void or of no effect; annul
-
Other Word Forms
- prevacate verb (used with object)
- revacate verb (used with object)
- vacatable adjective
Etymology
Origin of vacate
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin vacātus, past participle of vacāre “to be empty”; vacuum
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.
Probation officials said they requested the court vacate the furlough program on March 6, but the request was not approved before Aguilar fled.
From Los Angeles Times
In possession, Fulham played with a wide defensive line with the remaining players in attack, vacating the midfield at times.
From BBC
In January, a court found that they had defaulted on the rent payments and they have been given weeks to vacate the house.
From BBC
A freshman at Harvard, I awoke on March 10, 2020, to an email telling undergraduates to vacate campus.
“Not one Dubai resident has expressed a desire to leave as far as I know,” he posted on X. “The British who need to vacate are on holiday or on business in Dubai.”
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.
