vacate

verb

va·cate ˈvā-ˌkāt

vā-ˈkāt

vacated; vacating

transitive verb

: to deprive of an incumbent or occupant

: to give up the incumbency or occupancy of

: to make legally void : annul

intransitive verb

: to vacate an office, post, or tenancy

Example Sentences

She refused to vacate her post even under increased pressure. The election will fill the congressional seat vacated by the retiring senator. The police told everyone to vacate the premises. Students must vacate their rooms at the end of the semester. The court vacated the conviction.

Recent Examples on the Web Judge Pryor spent much of his time during the hearing questioning a Justice Department lawyer about whether the best way to get rid of the special master’s review would be to vacate Judge Cannon’s order or to simply reverse it.

Alan Feuer, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2022 Bragg’s decision to ask a judge to vacate the misdemeanor convictions came after an ongoing investigation by the DA’s Post-Conviction Justice Unit, which is reviewing more than 1,100 cases tied to 22 former cops.

Ray Sanchez, CNN, 19 Nov. 2022 The Justice Department filed a brief with the Supreme Court to vacate the injunction by the appeals court.

Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 18 Nov. 2022 Unlike today's 12- or 13-minute notice before major Indiana storms, people in the early 20th century would have had no warning to vacate, Kirkpatrick said.

The Indianapolis Star, 8 Nov. 2022 Vance reopened the case files of Aziz and Islam, and late last year, his office moved to vacate the convictions and dismiss charges.

Dennis Romero, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2022 Miami Beach spokesperson Melissa Berthier said around 4 p.m. Thursday that the city planned to post an unsafe structure notice and order residents of the 14-story Port Royale building to vacate immediately.

CBS News, 28 Oct. 2022 Peggy Nagae, the Portland attorney who led Yasui’s effort to vacate his conviction in 1984, said The Oregonian’s description of Yasui and other Japanese Americans wasn’t accidental.

Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian - OregonLive.com, 26 Oct. 2022 Shortly after the snake got out, an alarm went off to alert visitors to vacate the premises.

Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 26 Oct. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vacate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

New Latin vacātus, past participle of vacāre "to annul," going back to Latin, "to be empty, have space" (sense probably by confusion with Medieval Latin vacuāre "to annul," going back to Latin, "to empty," derivative of vacuus "empty") — more at vacant, vacuum entry 1

First Known Use

1643, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Time Traveler

The first known use of vacate was in 1643

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