English Explanatory Dictionary

empty

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
  2. Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
  3. Free; clear; devoid; often with of.
  4. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
  5. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
  6. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
  7. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
  8. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
  9. Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.
  10. Producing nothing; unfruitful.
  11. Hungry.
  12. Lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish.
verb
  1. To make empty; to remove the contents of.
  2. Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.
noun
  1. A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.

Pronunciation

/ˈɛm(p).ti/ [ˈɛm(p).tʰi] En-uk-empty.ogg en-us-empty.ogg /ˈɪm(p).ti/ [ˈɪm(p).tʰi] /ˈem(p).ti/ [ˈem(p).tʰi]

Word forms

empty emptier emptiest empties emptying emptied

Etymology

From Middle English emty, amty, from Old English ǣmtiġ, ǣmettiġ (“vacant, empty, free, idle, unmarried”, literally “without must or obligation, leisurely”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + Proto-Germanic *mōtijô, *mōtô (“must, obligation, need”), *mōtiþô (“ability, accommodation”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“measure; to acquire, possess, be in command”). Related to Old English ġeǣmtigian (“to empty”), ǣmetta (“leisure”), mōtan (“can, to be allowed”). More at mote, meet. The interconsonantal excrescent p is a euphonic insertion dating from Middle English.

Synonyms

empty empty as a pauper's purse empty as the tomb on Easter clean leer toom unfilled vacant vacuumlike vacuous void unoccupied clear hollow evacuate

Antonyms

cramful cramfull freighted fraught full jammed jam-packed jam rammed laden loaded non-empty packed packed to the gills packed to the rafters rammed rammed to the rafters stuffed stuffed to the gills fill

Related words

∅ ∅- -∅ empty set dead soldier

Derived words

come away empty emptily emptiness empty as a pauper's purse empty as the tomb on Easter empty barrels make the most noise empty base empty calorie empty cans make the most noise empty canvas empty chair empty coaching stock empty constructor empty-element tag empty function empty graph empty-handed empty-headed empty-hearted empty-hoofed emptyish empty leaf empty letter empty morph empty morpheme empty nest empty-nester empty nester empty-nest syndrome empty nest syndrome empty-net goal empty net goal empty netter empty-netter empty nose syndrome empty out empty page empty phrase empty product empty sella syndrome empty set empty sheet empty signifier empty space empty stock working empty string empty suit empty sum empty the bench empty threat empty vessels make the most noise empty vessels make the most sound empty word empty words glass-half-empty half empty nonempty on an empty stomach the glass half-empty you can't pour from an empty cup
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