(emptier, emptiest, empties, ~ing, emptied)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
An ~ place, vehicle, or container is one that has no people or things in it.
The room was bare and ~.
...~ cans of lager...
The roads were nearly ~ of traffic.
ADJ: oft ADJ of n
2.
An ~ gesture, threat, or relationship has no real value or meaning.
His father threatened to throw him out, but he knew it was an ~ threat.
...to ensure the event is not perceived as an ~ gesture.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
3.
If you describe a person’s life or a period of time as ~, you mean that nothing interesting or valuable happens in it.
My life was very hectic but ~ before I met him.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ
4.
If you feel ~, you feel unhappy and have no energy, usually because you are very tired or have just experienced something upsetting.
I feel so ~, my life just doesn’t seem worth living any more.
ADJ: usu feel ADJ, also ADJ n
5.
If you ~ a container, or ~ something out of it, you remove its contents, especially by tipping it up.
I emptied the ashtray...
Empty the noodles and liquid into a serving bowl...
He emptied the contents out into the palm of his hand.
VERB: V n, V n prep, V n with out
6.
If someone empties a room or place, or if it empties, everyone that is in it goes away.
The stadium emptied at the end of the first day of athletics.
...a woman who could ~ a pub full of drunks just by lifting one fist.
VERB: V, V n
7.
A river or canal that empties into a lake, river, or sea flows into it.
The Washougal empties into the Columbia River near Portland.
VERB: V into n
8.
Empties are bottles or containers which no longer have anything in them.
N-COUNT: usu pl