What does "evacuate" mean?

1. (to move people to safety) to move people away from a dangerous place to a safer one. 2. (to leave a dangerous place) to leave a place because it is no longer safe to stay there. 3. (to empty a container) to remove all the air or liquid from a container. 4. (to empty the bowels) to pass waste from the body.

Is it correct to say "The police evacuated the people from the building."?

No — say "The police evacuated the building.". While you can evacuate people, it is more common in formal reports to evacuate the place itself.

evacuate

US //iˈvækjəˌeɪt// UK //ɪvˈækjuːˌeɪt// evac·u·ate

1 to move people to safety (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to move people away from a dangerous place to a safer one.

to remove people from a place of danger to a safe location. Transitive in this sense, taking the people or the location as the object.

Example

The police had to evacuate the entire street after they found an old bomb.

Example

Emergency services worked through the night to evacuate residents from the coastal villages before the storm surge reached its peak.
- occupy
- stay
Pitfall

The police evacuated the people from the building.

The police evacuated the building.

While you can evacuate people, it is more common in formal reports to evacuate the place itself.
2 to leave a dangerous place (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to leave a place because it is no longer safe to stay there.

to withdraw from or quit a place, especially in response to a threat or order. Often used intransitively.

Example

When the fire alarm rang, everyone evacuated the office in a calm way.

Example

Thousands were forced to evacuate as the wildfire spread rapidly through the dry timber toward the edge of the town.
- enter
- remain

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3 to empty a container (v.)
C1 Advanced Technical Science

to remove all the air or liquid from a container.

to create a vacuum or remove the contents of a vessel or container. Frequently used in engineering and physics contexts.

Example

The technician used a pump to evacuate the air from the glass tube.

Example

Before the experiment could begin, the chamber had to be fully evacuated to ensure no atmospheric gases interfered with the laser.
- fill
4 to empty the bowels (v.)
C2 Proficiency Formal Technical Medicine

to pass waste from the body.

to discharge waste matter from the body, particularly from the bowels. Highly formal or clinical in register.

Example

The patient was unable to evacuate his bowels without medical help.

Example

Post-operative monitoring included ensuring the patient could evacuate their bladder independently before being cleared for discharge.
- void
- discharge
- excrete

Origin

First attested in 1526; borrowed from Latin ēvacuātus, the perfect passive participle of ēvacuō (“to empty out, evacuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).