empty
verb
- to cause to be without contents
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L320098 on Wikidata ↗adjective
- absent of something
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɛm(p).ti/ / [ˈɛm(p).tʰi] / /ˈɪm(p).ti/
adj
Etymology: 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.
- Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
“an empty purse”
“an empty jug”
- Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
- Free; clear; devoid; often with of.
“And I ſhal finde you emptie of that fault, Right ioyfull of your reformation.”
“For that fair femal Troop thou sawst, that seemd Of Goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay, Yet empty of all good wherein consists Womans domestic honour and chief praise;”
- Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
“I hope our Ladies treaſure and our owne, May ſerue for ranſome to our liberties: Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe, That we may trauell into Siria, […]”
“I hope it remaines not vnkindly with your Lordſhip, that I return'd you an empty Meſſenger.”
- Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
“empty words, or threats”
“empty offer”
- Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
“empty pleasures”
“Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days, Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;”
- Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
“empty dreams”
- Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
“empty brains”
“an empty coxcomb”
- Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.
“Empty cow rates have increased in recent years.”
- Producing nothing; unfruitful.
“an empty vine”
“[…] and the seuen emptie eares blasted with the East wind[…]”
- Hungry.
- Lacking between the onset of tasting and the finish.
“Grotesquely vegetal, excessively oaked, empty wines were routinely produced in the mid-1980s. Since the late 1980s, however, the quality has soared.”
noun
Etymology: 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.
- A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
“Put the empties out to be recycled.”
“The east-west flow consists in the westerly direction of the agricultural and industrial products of East Anglia; imports through London and Parkeston (Harwich); special traffic in coke to the Northamptonshire ironfield; and mineral empties returning to the Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and South Yorkshire coalfields.”
verb
Etymology: 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.
- To make empty; to remove the contents of.
“to empty a well or a cistern”
“The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.”
- Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.
“Salmon River empties on the W shore about 2 miles below Bear River.”
“Of these the Rhine empties into the Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine.”