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

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

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026

A possessed vacuum cleaner sparks a revolution in “A Useful Ghost,” a satire that’s “Brazil” by way of Bangkok.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026

The US firm behind the Roomba smart vacuum cleaner, iRobot, has filed for bankruptcy protection after facing competition from Chinese rivals and being hit by tariffs.

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025

So he removed the AC units, sealed the windows and searched for the best tool he had: a vacuum cleaner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 16, 2025

We do not have a vacuum cleaner, so I sweep a lot.

From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads

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