Definition of VACUUM

vacuum

Plural: vacua, vacuums

Noun

  • A space entirely devoid of matter, or a cleaning device.
  • the absence of matter
  • an empty area or space
    • "without their support he'll be ruling in a vacuum"
  • a region that is devoid of matter
  • an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction
  • A region of space that contains no matter.
  • The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, such as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.
  • Ellipsis of vacuum cleaner.
  • A spacetime having tensors of zero magnitude.
  • An emptiness in life created by a loss of a person who was close, or of an occupation.
  • An exercise in which one draws their abdomen towards the spine.

Verb

Verb Forms: vacuumed, vacuuming, vacuums

  • To clean with a vacuum cleaner.
  • clean with a vacuum cleaner
    • "vacuum the carpets"
  • To clean (something) with a vacuum cleaner.
  • To use a vacuum cleaner.
  • To optimise a database or database table by physically removing deleted tuples.

Examples

  • a vacuum of 26 inches of mercury, or 13 pounds per square inch
  • I needed to VACUUM up some high-scoring tiles from the board to catch up in Words With Friends.
  • The VACUUM created by my opponent’s bad play left me an open path to victory.

Origin / Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

emptiness, hoover, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum cleaner, vacuum-clean, void, to do the hoovering, to hoover

Antonyms

plenum

Scrabble Score: 13

vacuum: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
vacuum: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
vacuum: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 18

vacuum: valid Words With Friends Word