empty
- 01 A2 Elementary
adj.having nothing inside.
adj.containing no people or things; devoid of contents.
Simple“The room was completely empty except for a single wooden chair.”
In context“The hikers found an empty cabin in the woods, providing them with much-needed shelter from the sudden downpour.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.having no real value, meaning, or sincerity.
adj.lacking sincerity, purpose, or substance; often used to describe words or promises.
Simple“He made many empty promises that he never intended to keep.”
In context“The politician's speech was criticized for being full of empty rhetoric that failed to address the actual concerns of the voters.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.containing no data or items, like a list with zero things in it.
adj.containing no elements or members; specifically distinguished from 'null' in programming contexts.
Simple“The program crashed because it tried to read an empty list.”
In context“The function returns an empty array if no matching records are found in the database, rather than returning a null value.”
- 04 A2 Elementary
v.to take everything out of a container.
v.to remove the contents of a container or space completely.
Simple“Please empty the trash can before you leave the office.”
In context“The staff worked quickly to empty the gallery before the renovation crew arrived the following morning.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.when a river or pipe flows into a larger body of water.
v.to discharge or flow into a larger body of water or a specific destination.
Simple“The local river empties into the sea just a few miles from here.”
In context“Several small streams empty into the reservoir, maintaining the water level even during the dry summer months.”
- 06 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.bottles or containers that are now without their contents.
n.containers, particularly glass bottles or crates, whose contents have been consumed or removed.
Simple“We need to take the empties back to the shop for the deposit.”
In context“The morning after the festival, the grounds were littered with glass empties and discarded food packaging.”
UsageUsually used in the plural form 'empties'.
Synonymsrecyclables
Usage empty space
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.