- empty
- [[t]e̱mpti[/t]]
♦♦♦emptier, emptiest, empties, emptying, emptied1) ADJ-GRADED: oft ADJ of n An empty place, vehicle, or container is one that has no people or things in it.
The room was bare and empty.
...empty cans of lager...
The roads were nearly empty of traffic.
2) ADJ: usu ADJ n An empty gesture, threat, or relationship has no real value or meaning.His father had threatened disinheritance, but both men had known it was an empty threat.
...to ensure the event is not perceived as an empty gesture.
3) ADJ-GRADED: usu v-link ADJ If you describe a person's life or a period of time as empty, you mean that nothing interesting or valuable happens in it.My life was very hectic but empty before I met him.
4) ADJ-GRADED: usu feel ADJ, also ADJ n If you feel empty, you feel unhappy and have no energy, usually because you are very tired or have just experienced something upsetting.I felt empty and hollow; defeated...
I feel so empty, my life just doesn't seem worth living any more.
5) VERB If you empty a container, or empty something out of it, you remove its contents, especially by tipping it up.[V n] I emptied the ashtray...
[V n prep] Empty the noodles and liquid into a serving bowl...
[V n with out] He emptied the contents out into the palm of his hand.
6) V-ERG If someone empties a room or place, or if it empties, everyone that is in it goes away.The stadium emptied at the end of the first day of athletics.
[V n] ...a woman who could empty a pub full of drunks just by lifting one fist.
7) VERB A river or canal that empties into a lake, river, or sea flows into it.[V into n] The Washougal empties into the Columbia River near Portland.
8) N-COUNT: usu pl Empties are bottles or containers which no longer have anything in them.
English dictionary. 2008.
