vacuum
/vakyoo m/ • noun (pl. vacuums or vacua /vakyoo/) 1 a space entirely devoid of matter. 2 a space from which the air has been completely or partly removed. 3 a gap left by the loss or departure of someone or something important. 4 (pl. vacuums) informal a vacuum cleaner. • verb informal clean with a vacuum cleaner. — PHRASES in a vacuum in isolation from the normal context. — ORIGIN Latin, from vacuus ‘empty’.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
| 
