vacuum cleaner

American

noun

an electrical appliance for cleaning carpets, floors, etc., by suction.

vacuum cleaner British

noun

an electrical household appliance used for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, etc, by suction

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

vacuum cleaning

noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

vacuum cleaners

plural

Etymology

Origin of vacuum cleaner

First recorded in 1900–05

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:

vacuum cleaner

Sebastien Leas, a forecaster at France's weather service, likened it to a "vacuum cleaner, drawing in heat and masses of hot air rising from North Africa" and blasting it northward in a violent torrent.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

In Somerset, the makers of the 'Henry' vacuum cleaner have just spent £1.5m on new solar panels at their Chard factory.

From BBC ● May 18, 2026

Could this year’s hottest Valentine’s Day gift be…a vacuum cleaner?

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026

Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s Cannes Grand Prix winner opens with a haunted vacuum cleaner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025

Use the vacuum cleaner to create a special, fernlike pattern in the carpets.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023