space
Pluralspaces
Pluralspaces
- 1
- 2An area or room with edges or walls, often used for a certain purpose.
Like a box with sides that holds whatever you put inside it.
The library has a quiet study space on the second floor.
The hall is a big space where children can play.
UsageOften in office space or study space.
Similararea, room, venue, place
Note
- 3The huge empty area beyond the air around Earth, where the stars and planets are.
Like a giant dark room that has no walls and seems to go on forever.
Astronauts float weightlessly when they travel through space.
Rockets carry people and supplies up into space.
UsageSay in space or into space, without the.
- 4An empty gap between things, or an empty place where something could go.
Like an empty chair waiting for someone to sit down.
There is an empty space on the shelf where the clock was.
There's a space on the wall for one more picture.
UsageSay a space on the shelf or a parking space.
- 5The freedom and room a person needs to live or act in their own way.
Like needing room to stretch your arms without bumping into anyone.
After the argument, she asked for some space.
Teenagers often want more space from their parents.
UsageSay give me some space or I need space.
Similarroom, freedom, latitude, leeway, independence
- 6A certain area of work, business, or interest.
Like one part of a big market where a certain kind of business happens.
She has worked in the fashion space for ten years.
Lots of new companies are entering the gaming space.
UsageSay the gaming space. Field or area is plainer.
- 7Room for keeping files, photos, and apps on a computer or phone, or how much memory a program needs.
I can't take any more photos because my phone is out of space.
This game needs a lot of space, so I deleted some old videos first.
UsageSay free up space, or your phone is out of space.
- 8The small gap between words or letters when you write or type.
Like leaving a tiny gap so the words don't crash into each other.
Put a space between each word so it's easy to read.
He forgot to add a space after the comma.
UsagePress the space bar once to put a space between words.
Similargap, blank, whitespace
- 9To put things at a set distance from each other, or to leave a set time between events.
Like setting plates around a table so each person has the same gap.
Space the chairs evenly so everyone has room.
She spaced the plants a foot apart in the garden.
UsageOften space things out or space them evenly.
Similardistribute, spread
- 10All the room there is in every direction, in which everything in the universe exists and moves.
Like a giant invisible grid that everything in the universe sits inside.
Gravity can bend the space around a heavy star.
Scientists study how space and time fit together.
Note
- 11A length of time, as in 'in the space of a week' or 'for a short space'.
Like the fixed number of hours you book a room for.
She learned to swim in the space of a week.
We rented the hall for the space of one evening.
UsageSay in the space of a week, meaning within only a week.
Note
- 12In mathematics, a set of points or other things that share a structure, like a flat plane.
Like putting all the red things together in one group so you can compare them.
In math class, we learned that a flat plane is a kind of space.
Engineers map sounds into a space where similar tones sit close together.
Note
Less common meanings
- 13To stop paying attention and let your mind drift.
Like a radio slowly drifting off its station.
I always space out during long car rides.
She spaced out in class and missed the question.
UsageSay space out: she spaced out in class.
Oppositefocus, concentrate
- 14A place online where people can meet and talk.
Like a clubhouse, but on the internet instead of down the street.
The forum is a friendly space for new players.
Our class has an online space where we post homework questions.
UsageOften an online space or a virtual space.
Similarforum, place, environment, platform
- 15One of the gaps between the lines of a music staff, used to show a note's pitch.
Like the gap between two rungs on a ladder, each its own spot.
The note sits in the second space from the bottom of the staff.
Write the note in a space, not on a line.
UsageSay in a space but on a line.
Note
- 16
- 17Free time when you can rest or do what you want.
Come on, thou are granted ſpace.
c. 1604, William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”Here, space means time or opportunity to do something.Note
- 18To walk about with no fixed goal, to wander.
But she as Fayes are wont, in priuie place / Did spend her dayes, and lov'd in forests wyld to space.
1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneHere, space means to roam or wander about.Note
- 19To kill someone by pushing them out into outer space, usually without a space suit.
- 20To travel out into outer space and move through it.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of space apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from Latin "spatium." English got it through Middle English and Anglo-Norman.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- English space ultimately comes from Latin spatium. en.wiktionary.org
- The transmission into English was through Anglo-Norman and Middle English. en.wiktionary.org