VACUUM (vacua)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: vacua   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does vacuum mean? 

• VACUUM (noun)
  The noun VACUUM has 4 senses:

1. the absence of matter

2. an empty area or space

3. a region that is devoid of matter

4. an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction

  Familiarity information: VACUUM used as a noun is uncommon.

• VACUUM (verb)
  The verb VACUUM has 1 sense:

1. clean with a vacuum cleaner

  Familiarity information: VACUUM used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VACUUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The absence of matter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

vacuity; vacuum

Hypernyms ("vacuum" is a kind of...):

emptiness (the state of containing nothing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An empty area or space

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

emptiness; vacancy; vacuum; void

Context example:

without their support he'll be ruling in a vacuum

Hypernyms ("vacuum" is a kind of...):

space (an empty area (usually bounded in some way between things))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A region that is devoid of matter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

vacuity; vacuum

Hypernyms ("vacuum" is a kind of...):

part; region (the extended spatial location of something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An electrical home appliance that cleans by suction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

vacuum; vacuum cleaner

Hypernyms ("vacuum" is a kind of...):

home appliance; household appliance (an appliance that does a particular job in the home)

Meronyms (parts of "vacuum"):

dust bag; vacuum bag (a bag into which dirt is sucked by a vacuum cleaner)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vacuum"):

Hoover (a kind of vacuum cleaner)

Derivation:

vacuum (clean with a vacuum cleaner)

• VACUUM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they vacuum    ... he / she / it vacuums   
Past simple: vacuumed   
Past participle: vacuumed   
-ing form: vacuuming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clean with a vacuum cleaner

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

hoover; vacuum; vacuum-clean

Context example:

vacuum the carpets

Hypernyms (to "vacuum" is one way to...):

clean; make clean (make clean by removing dirt, filth, or unwanted substances from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

vacuum (an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction)

 Context examples 

The force which, when applied in a vacuum to a body having a mass of one kilogram, causes an acceleration of one meter per second squared.

(Newton, NCI Thesaurus)

The substance is frozen and then dried in a vacuum.

(Freeze-dried, NCI Dictionary)

A blood collection tube that contains a vacuum, allowing it to draw blood through a needle to fill the tube.

(Evacuated Blood Specimen Collection Tube, NCI Thesaurus)

But just south of these patches, the scientists were surprised to find broad areas extending 300 to 600 miles (500 to 1,000 kilometers) where the electrons were "almost vacuumed out".

(Solar Storms Can Drain Electrical Charge Above Earth, NASA)

A pipet consisting of a small tube with a vacuum bulb at one end for drawing liquid in and releasing it a drop at a time.

(Dropper, NCI Thesaurus)

Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) Activities: are you able to do chores such as vacuuming or yardwork?

(HAQ-DI - Able to Do Chores - Vacuuming or Yardwork, NCI Thesaurus)

Interstellar space is mostly a vacuum, so there is no medium that can carry sound. In other words, space is totally silent.

(Does Our Galaxy Sound Like Funky Blues Music?, George Putic/VOA)

A unit of length that would be traversed in a period of one year by an object moving at the speed of light in a vacuum (2.99792458E8 meters per second).

(Light-Year, NCI Thesaurus)

The closure can also be produced with vacuum buttons that can clearly indicate to the packer if a vacuum has been effectively drawn following the closure application.

(Lug Metal Container Closure, Food and Drug Administration)

A process that fills a dosage unit using a vacuum to deliver a powder, which is not performed under sterile conditions.

(Non-Sterile Vacuum Powder Filling Method, NCI Thesaurus)