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vacuum

n. countable
C1 Advanced Oxford US //ˈvækjum// UK //vˈækjuːm// vac·u·um Informal

n. a space that has no air or any other gas inside it. You also use this word for a machine that cleans floors by sucking up dust.

n. a space entirely devoid of matter, or a region in which the pressure is significantly lower than atmospheric pressure. Often used metaphorically to describe a situation isolated from outside influences.


SIMPLE

Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.

CONTEXTUAL

The scientist created a vacuum inside the glass chamber to observe how the feathers fell without air resistance.

COMPLEX

Political theorists argue that no policy decision is made in a vacuum; rather, every choice is shaped by the historical and social pressures of its time.

Synonyms
Origin

Borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner.

Usage

Commonly used in the prepositional phrase 'in a vacuum' to mean in isolation.

Pitfall

The room was a vacuum.The room was a void.Learners often use 'vacuum' to mean any empty space, but it specifically refers to a space without air or matter.

Idioms1 entry

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