VACANT


Meaning of VACANT in English

va ‧ cant /ˈveɪkənt/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin , present participle of vacare 'to be empty, be free' ]

1 . a vacant seat, building, room, or piece of land is empty and available for someone to use:

Only a few apartments were still vacant.

There was only a vacant lot (=empty unused area of land in a city) where her house used to be.

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In everyday English, people usually say that a seat or room is free rather than vacant :

Is this seat free?

2 . formal a job or position in an organization that is vacant is available for someone to start doing

fall vacant British English (=become vacant)

He was offered the position of headmaster when it fell vacant.

situations vacant British English (=the part of a newspaper where jobs are advertised)

3 . vacant expression/look/stare etc written an expression that shows that someone does not seem to be thinking about anything:

He gazed at me with vacant eyes.

—vacantly adverb :

Cindy was staring vacantly into space.

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