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to vacate

to vacate

52 4.5
Leave a place or job so it is free for someone else
  • verb
  • /vəˈkeɪt/
translation icon : desocupar
  • We need to vacate the building for a fire drill.
  • vacate the premises
  • vacate a position
  • vacate a seat

If you want to vacate that space that America is occupied, who is going to fill it?

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Examples

  • Unless you vacate these premises at once, we'll be forced to evict you by whatever means necessary.

  • Vacate the premises!

  • - I know this comes at a bad time, but we have 30 days to vacate.

  • I'm gonna need you to vacate the area.

  • I'm sorry, miss, you have to vacate within 24 hours.

  • Please vacate the mall immediately.

  • Now, if you will kindly vacate my office, I have work to do.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Charles told his grandfather to vacate so that the buyers could take possession.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The good news is, a high level position has just been vacated.

  • Noel Jefferson was the other contender for a recently vacated congressional seat in San Francisco.

    Fiction book (2001)

Synonyms

to leave
vsto vacate
1.0

To go away from a place, person, or group

is more specific, meaning to depart so the place or post becomes available
to quit
vsto vacate
788 1.2

To leave a job or position

is more formal and covers planned departures to free space or posts
to resign
vsto vacate
  • Formal
533 3.7

Leave a job or office by giving notice

is a more general term for departing places or positions to free them
to give up
vsto vacate
363 2.3

To hand a job or control you have to someone else

is used when freeing a place or post rather than surrendering possessions
to step down
vsto vacate
148 3.3

Give up an important job so someone else can take over

is used more broadly for departing places or posts to make them available
to clear out
vsto vacate
91 3.1

Remove all things from a place so it becomes empty

is broader, applying to freeing a place or post, not only emptying contents
to renounce
vsto vacate
  • Formal
69 6.3

To give up a right, belief, job, or position officially

is focused on departing to free places or posts, not only abandoning rights
to leave office
vsto vacate
  • Literature
53 4.2

Stop being a leader with official power, for example a government official or company boss

is broader, covering many kinds of departures that free a place or post
11 3.4

To move people out of a building for safety during an emergency

is used generally for freeing places or posts, not only for emergency removals
to leave the job
vsto vacate
6 2.5

To stop working at a job because you want something different

is used for freeing positions or places, not only ending employment
to evacuate
vsto vacate
5 5.0

To take out what is inside a container so it becomes empty

is about departing to free a place or post, not merely emptying containers

Antonyms

236 3.4

To keep having something such as a job or possession

92 3.3

To fill space or time

How Complete

to abandon
773 3.1
to evacuate
344 4.1
to move out
164 1.9
to vacate
52 4.5
to leave
1.0
to step aside
129 3.4

Surface Forms

vacate infinitive
vacated past
vacated past participle
vacating present participle
vacates third person singular

Morphology

vacate = vacant (transparent) = vac + ate

The verb is directly interpretable as 'make empty' and is closely related to the adjective 'vacant', so learners who know 'vacant' can infer 'vacate'.

Etymology

The word vacate comes from the Latin root vac- and the verb vacare, which mean 'to be empty'. Think of vacant or vacuum; to vacate a room is to leave it empty so someone else can use it.