vacate

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verb va·cate \ ˈvā-ˌkāt , vā-ˈkāt \

Definition of vacate

vacated; vacating

transitive verb

1 a :to deprive of an incumbent or occupant

b :to give up the incumbency or occupancy of

2 :to make legally void :annul

intransitive verb

:to vacate an office, post, or tenancy

See vacate defined for English-language learners

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Examples of vacate in a Sentence

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 of vacate from the Web

Back in Washington, Mr. Bannon had vacated his office and was returning to his old employer, the right-wing website Breitbart News.

— mark landler and maggie haberman, New York Times, "Angry Trump Grilled His Generals About Troop Increase, Then Gave In," 21 Aug. 2017
In a 2-1 ruling, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel vacated the previous preliminary injunctions from a federal judge that prevented the state from suspending Medicaid payments for services patients received from Planned Parenthood.

— veronica hilbring, Essence.com, "U.S. Appeals Court: Arkansas Can Block Medicaid Funding To Planned Parenthood," 17 Aug. 2017
According to Field, Russell vacated their home while Reidy-Russell was visiting family in Florida and told her about it after the fact.

— phil thompson, chicagotribune.com, "Addison Russell seeking to hold off divorce case until after season," 9 Aug. 2017
The Secret Service has vacated its command post inside Trump Tower in Manhattan following a dispute between the government and President Trump’s company over the terms of a lease for the space, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

— bess levin, The Hive, "The Secret Service is Sick of Getting Hosed by Donald Trump," 4 Aug. 2017
Recently, Energy Secretary Rick Perry has emerged as a more likely pick for Kelly’s vacated post, an apparent vote of no-confidence in his current position.

— vanityfair.com, "Trump’s West Wing Shake-Up Is Getting Ugly," 3 Aug. 2017
After new DNA evidence corroborated his version of the events, New York County district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau vacated the convictions of the defendants, who all had already served their time and had been released.

— lincoln anthony blades, Teen Vogue, "Central Park Five Case, Explained," 18 July 2017
In Boone County in May, it was interjected in sensational fashion in a case in which a judge vacated a life sentence in a notorious murder.

— andrew wolfson, The Courier-Journal, "Sexual relationships between prosecutors and cops could derail Kentucky murder trials," 17 July 2017
For weeks, Moscow has been ratcheting up the pressure on the Trump administration to return two alleged Russian spy compounds, in Maryland and Long Island, which President Barack Obama ordered vacated at the end of last year.

— vanityfair.com, "Is Trump About to Get Played by Putin?," 5 July 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of vacate

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, ¹vacuum

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First Known Use: 1643

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