# empty

Pronunciation: say "EMP-tee" /ˈɛmp.ti/

## Adjective

1. Containing nothing or nobody; having none of something, often followed by 'of', as in streets empty of traffic.
   - Simple: With nothing or nobody inside, or without any of a certain thing.
   - _The theater was completely empty an hour before showtime._
   - _He stared at the empty page, unsure how to begin._
3. Of a life or experience, failing to satisfy, hollow and without meaning; of a person, feeling hollow or numb inside, as after a loss or disappointment.
   - Simple: Without meaning or real happiness, or feeling hollow inside, as if something is missing.
   - _After years of chasing money, she found her comfortable life strangely empty._
   - _His victory left him empty, the thrill gone the moment it arrived._
5. Free of any load or burden, with nothing at all to carry.
   - Simple: Carrying nothing, with nothing in your hands.
   - _The fishermen returned empty, their nets having caught nothing._
   - _Having left their loads at the upper camp, the porters headed back down the trail empty and twice as fast._
6. Lacking real substance, effect or sincerity; meaningless.
   - Simple: Without real meaning, effect or honest feeling, like empty words or empty promises.
   - _The apology was empty, a string of words with no feeling behind it._
   - _Politicians too often fall back on empty slogans during a campaign._
7. Hungry; having an unfilled stomach and needing food.
   - Simple: Feeling hungry, with nothing in the stomach.
   - _He had skipped dinner, so he woke up feeling empty and went straight for breakfast._
   - _Lunch had been hours ago, and by four o'clock she was feeling empty enough to raid the office snack drawer._
8. Of a string, array, set, or similar collection, containing no elements, as distinct from being null.
   - Simple: In computing, describes a list, set or string that holds no items but still exists.
   - _The function returns true when the array is empty._
   - _An empty string has a length of zero but is not the same as a missing value._
10. Lacking sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
   - Simple: Without good sense, knowledge, or good manners.
   - _Critics dismissed the pundit as empty, full of opinions but short on facts._
   - _An empty mind can still be filled with learning, his tutor insisted._

## Verb

2. To remove the contents or occupants of something, making it empty; also, of a place or container, to become empty.
   - Simple: To take everything out of something, or to become empty.
   - _Sanitation workers empty the curbside bins every morning._
   - _He emptied the bucket of dirty water into the drain._
4. Of a river, duct, or similar channel, to drain or flow toward a final destination.
   - Simple: Of a river or pipe, to flow out into a larger body of water or place.
   - _The Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico._
   - _Drainage channels empty into the reservoir below the dam._

## Noun

9. A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up.
   - Simple: A bottle or container that has been used up and now holds nothing.
   - _The bartender cleared a long row of empties from the counter._
   - _Every empty goes into the blue bin for weekly collection._

## Adjective

11. Producing nothing; barren or unfruitful. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Giving no crops, fruit or results.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Of some female animals, especially cows and ewes, not pregnant, or not producing young when expected to during the breeding season.
- (adjective) Of wine, lacking flavor across the middle of the palate, between the first taste and the finish.

## Origin

From Middle English emty, from Old English ǣmtiġ ("vacant, idle, free"), literally "without obligation", built from Germanic roots meaning "out" and "must, obligation". The 'p' crept in to ease pronunciation: it turns up now and then in late Old English and became the usual spelling in Middle English.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/empty (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).