/ ɪˈvækjueɪt; NAmE / verb
1.
[ vn ] to move people from a place of danger to a safer place :
Police evacuated nearby buildings.
Children were evacuated from London to escape the bombing.
2.
to move out of a place because of danger, and leave the place empty :
[ vn ]
Employees were urged to evacuate their offices immediately.
[ v ]
Locals were told to evacuate.
3.
[ vn ] ( formal ) to empty your bowels
► evacu·ation / ɪˌvækjuˈeɪʃn; NAmE / noun [ U , C ]:
the emergency evacuation of thousands of people after the earthquake
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (in the sense clear the contents of ): from Latin evacuat- (of the bowels) emptied, from the verb evacuare , from e- (variant of ex- ) out of + vacuus empty.