DictionaryAI

void

VOYD/vɔɪd/

Pluralvoids

Verbvoids, voiding, voided

19 meanings of void

Practice

  1. 1
    empty expansenouncountable
    A space with nothing in it; a vacuum.

    The probe's signal faded as it sailed out into the void.

    No new leader emerged to fill the void left by the founder's death.

    UsageOften fill the void or leave a void in someone's life.

    Similarvacuum, emptiness, gap

    Note

    Fill the void is the phrase that carries this noun into everyday English: in An Essay on Criticism (1711) Pope has pride step in to fill up all the mighty void of sense, and a death or a departure still leaves a void that someone must fill. Used alone, the void is space itself, or the dark beyond the known.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Alexander Pope wrote An Essay on Criticism. en.wikisource.org
    • An Essay on Criticism was first published in 1711, as confirmed by its first-edition title page. en.wikisource.org
    • Pope describes pride stepping in and filling the mighty void of sense. en.wikisource.org
  2. 2
    never validadjective
    Having no legal force or effect, and incapable of being confirmed or ratified.

    A contract to commit a crime is void and cannot be enforced by either party.

    The government insists that the rival claims to the islands are null and void.

    UsageOften in the doubled phrase null and void.

    Similarinvalid, null, unenforceable

    Oppositevalid, binding, enforceable

    Note

    The sense reaches beyond contracts into diplomacy, where a government can call a rival's claims void: Taiwan's government says so of the People's Republic of China's claims to sovereignty over the island.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Taiwan’s government rejects the People’s Republic of China’s claims to sovereignty over Taiwan as invalid; this is a paraphrase of its position. en.mofa.gov.tw
  3. 3
    make invalidverbtransitive
    To make something invalid or worthless.

    The bank voided the stolen checks before anyone could cash them.

    Any change to the terms would void the agreement entirely.

    UsageCommon with documents and promises: void a check, void the warranty, void a sale.

    Similarinvalidate, cancel, nullify, annul

    Oppositevalidate

    Note

    Its everyday objects are documents and promises: a bank voids a check so it cannot be cashed, and opening a sealed device can void its warranty. Older formal English did the same to securities given for borrowed money; the legal adjective describes the result, and nullify is a near twin.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Voiding a check prevents it from being cashed. citi.com
    • Opening a sealed device can invalidate its warranty under some manufacturers' terms. sony.com.hk
    • Older English used 'void' for invalidating security given for borrowed money. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    nouncountable
    An empty place; a site that contains nothing useful.

    Planners hope to turn the derelict void beside the railway into a park.

    Councils are looking for voids, such as worked-out quarries, that can take excavated earth.

    Note

    Planners and engineers use it for a hole in the ground waiting to be filled: spoil dug out for HS2's tunnels goes by rail to fill voids that will later become housing sites. In this use the word is countable and practical, a site to be dealt with rather than an emptiness to be felt.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • HS2 tunnel spoil is transported by rail to fill voids for subsequent redevelopment, including house building. mediacentre.hs2.org.uk
  5. 5
    adjectivewith of
    Completely lacking something, especially a particular quality such as spirit or feeling; usually followed by of.

    The report was strangely void of any mention of the accident.

    Critics found the film handsome but void of real emotion.

    UsageDevoid of is more common: devoid of emotion.

    Oppositefull

    Note

    The phrase has a scriptural and poetic ring, from the 1611 Bible's he that is void of wisdom to Tennyson's captive void of noble rage; devoid of and destitute of are its plainer partners.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  6. 6
    adjective
    Empty, vacant, or unoccupied; (of an office or position) having no one holding it.

    For months the apartment stood void while the owners argued over the lease.

    Engineers pumped concrete into the void spaces beneath the old floor.

    UsageIn everyday English empty or vacant is usual; this word sounds literary or technical, as in void spaces.

    Similarempty, vacant, unoccupied

    Oppositeoccupied, full, filled

    Note

    The word came through Old French vuide (French vide today) from Latin vacuus, and its most famous use is the opening of Genesis in the 1611 Bible, where the earth is without form, and void.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Void came through Old French vuide, corresponding to modern French vide, ultimately from Latin vacuus, with a reconstructed Vulgar Latin intermediate form. en.wiktionary.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. exhibits.lib.byu.edu
    • The opening of Genesis in the 1611 Bible describes the earth as without form and void; the item modernizes the spelling. en.wikisource.org
  7. 7
    nouncountable
    A vast region of space between the filaments and walls of galaxies, containing very few galaxies and far less matter than average.

    Galaxy surveys show matter arranged in filaments and walls surrounding enormous voids.

    The team mapped a void so large that light takes hundreds of millions of years to cross it.

    Note

    Astronomers picture the universe as a web: galaxies crowd into walls and filaments, and the voids are the vast cells between them, holding far less matter than average. They are among the largest structures ever mapped, and their sizes and shapes help test models of how cosmic structure grew.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  8. 8
    nouncountable
    A hollow or empty space inside a building or other structure, such as between floors or behind walls, or a cavity in the ground beneath a road or track.

    The plumber cut an access panel to reach the leaking pipe in the floor void.

    Engineers left a narrow void between the old brick wall and the new steel frame.

    Similarcavity, space, gap, hollow

    Note

    Many voids are designed in: a raised floor or suspended ceiling leaves one to carry ducts, pipes and cables, and a double-skin facade leaves one for air to move through. Because a void can also carry fire and smoke out of sight, building codes call for barriers that break long voids into sections.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  9. 9
    verbtransitive
    To empty the bladder or bowels; to discharge urine, feces, or other matter from the body.

    The patient voided his bowels shortly after the enema was given.

    Some patients cannot void the bladder completely and need a catheter.

    UsageA clinical word: void urine, void the bladder; voiding names the process.

    Similarempty, evacuate, discharge, pass

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of void apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–18

Latin vacuus ultimately lies behind Vulgar Latin *vocitum, which became Old French vuit, voide, vuide (modern vide). Middle English took it as voide or voyde.

Meaning 19

An alteration of voidee.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  • Void, in its historical refreshment sense, is an alteration of voidee. en.wiktionary.org