EMPTY


Meaning of EMPTY in English

I. emp ‧ ty 1 S2 W2 /ˈempti/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative emptier , superlative emptiest )

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: æmettig ]

1 . CONTAINER having nothing inside:

an empty box

an empty bottle

an empty space behind the desk

The fuel tank’s almost empty.

2 . PLACE an empty place does not have any people in it:

I hate coming home to an empty house.

The hall was half-empty.

The streets were empty.

The building stood empty for several years.

3 . NOT USED not being used by anyone:

I spotted an empty table in the corner.

He put his feet on an empty chair.

4 . PERSON/LIFE unhappy because nothing in your life seems interesting or important:

The divorce left him feeling empty and bitter.

Her life felt empty and meaningless.

5 . empty of something not containing a particular type of thing, or not having a particular quality:

The beach was almost empty of people.

6 . empty words/gestures/promises etc words etc that are not sincere, or have no effect:

His repeated promises to pay them back were just empty words.

7 . do something on an empty stomach to do something without having eaten any food first:

I can’t work properly on an empty stomach.

8 . empty nest ( also empty nest syndrome ) a situation in which parents become sad because their children have grown up and moved out of their house

9 . empty suit especially American English a politician or manager who does not achieve much or does not have much ability

10 . be running on empty to continue doing something even though you no longer have supplies of something you need in order to do it properly:

With the country running on empty, the president has no hope of winning the election.

—emptily adverb

• • •

THESAURUS

■ with nothing in it or on it

▪ empty used about something that has nothing inside:

an empty can of hair spray

|

The fridge is almost empty.

▪ blank used about a computer screen or a piece of paper that has no writing or pictures on it, or a CD, DVD etc with nothing recorded on it:

a blank sheet of paper

|

He stared at the blank screen for a few minutes.

|

a blank tape

▪ bare used about a room or cupboard that has very little in it:

His room was bare except for a bed and a wardrobe.

▪ hollow used about something that has an empty space inside:

a hollow tree

|

The suitcase had a hollow bottom.

■ with no people

▪ empty used about a place that has no one in it or no one using it:

There were no lights on and the house looked empty.

|

the empty streets

▪ free used about a seat, space, or room that is available to use because no one else is using it:

Is this seat free?

|

There are never any parking spaces free at this time of day.

▪ vacant used about a room or building that is available for people to pay to use:

a vacant apartment

|

The next guesthouse we tried had a couple of rooms vacant.

▪ deserted used about a place that is quiet because there is no one there, or because the people who used to be there have left:

a deserted village

|

It was three o'clock in the morning and the streets were deserted.

▪ uninhabited /ˌʌnɪnˈhæbətəd◂, ˌʌnɪnˈhæbɪtəd◂/ used about a place that has no people living in it, especially permanently:

an uninhabited island

▪ unoccupied /ʌnˈɒkjəpaɪd, ʌnˈɒkjʊpaɪd $ -ˈɑːk-/ especially written used about a house, room, or office that no one is living in or using at the moment:

unoccupied buildings

|

Burglaries frequently happen when people are on holiday and their house is unoccupied.

II. empty 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle emptied , present participle emptying , third person singular empties )

1 . ( also empty out ) [transitive] to remove everything that is inside something:

Did you empty the dishwasher?

empty something onto/into something

Elinor emptied the contents of the envelope onto the table.

He emptied out the ashtray.

Ruth emptied her glass (=drank all the liquid left in it) in one gulp.

2 . [intransitive] if a place empties, everyone leaves it:

The stores were closing, and the streets began to empty.

empty into something phrasal verb

if a river empties into a larger area of water, it flows into it:

The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.