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Fine Dictionary

empty

ˈɛmti
WordNet
Landscape with the source 'Acidula Smechtana', with an empty banderole in the sky.
Landscape with the source 'Acidula Smechtana', with an empty banderole in the sky.
  1. (adj) empty
    holding or containing nothing "an empty glass","an empty room","full of empty seats","empty hours"
  2. (adj) empty
    emptied of emotion "after the violent argument he felt empty"
  3. (adj) empty
    needing nourishment "after skipped lunch the men were empty by suppertime","empty-bellied children"
  4. (adj) empty
    devoid of significance or point "empty promises","a hollow victory","vacuous comments"
  5. (v) empty
    excrete or discharge from the body
  6. (v) empty
    become empty or void of its content "The room emptied"
  7. (v) empty
    make void or empty of contents "Empty the box","The alarm emptied the building"
  8. (v) empty
    remove "Empty the water"
  9. (v) empty
    leave behind empty; move out of "You must vacate your office by tonight"
  10. (n) empty
    a container that has been emptied "return all empties to the store"
Illustrations
A farm and a haystack. A woman is emptying a bucket near a barn. On the right a horse and carriage and two figures.
A farm and a haystack. A woman is emptying a bucket near a barn. On the right a horse and carriage and two figures.
An angel sits on the edge of the empty tomb of Christ, the shroud in his hands. On the floor a bowl and a pot with a lid. In the background the three women on their way to the grave.
An angel sits on the edge of the empty tomb of Christ, the shroud in his hands. On the floor a bowl and a pot with a lid. In the background the three women on their way to the grave.
The apostles stand around an empty tomb and look up, where Mary is crowned in heaven by Christ and God. Latin text printed on the reverse. This print is part of a series of 20 prints, consisting of a title print and 19 prints with scenes from the life of Mary.
The apostles stand around an empty tomb and look up, where Mary is crowned in heaven by Christ and God. Latin text printed on the reverse. This print is part of a series of 20 prints, consisting of a title print and 19 prints with scenes from the life of Mary.
The three holy women (the three Marys) mourn Christ at his empty tomb.
The three holy women (the three Marys) mourn Christ at his empty tomb.
An angel points out a source to Hagar. Ishmael is on the left. An empty jug next to Hagar. At the bottom in the margin a text line in Latin.
An angel points out a source to Hagar. Ishmael is on the left. An empty jug next to Hagar. At the bottom in the margin a text line in Latin.
Three men are playing kettle music under a window. From the window a woman empties a chamber pot over the group of buskers. In the group a boy is on a leash with a dog.
Three men are playing kettle music under a window. From the window a woman empties a chamber pot over the group of buskers. In the group a boy is on a leash with a dog.
A river with fishermen. They empty traps and haul in fishing lines. The print has a Latin caption and is part of a series of 54 prints.
A river with fishermen. They empty traps and haul in fishing lines. The print has a Latin caption and is part of a series of 54 prints.
The three Marys at the entrance of the tomb, and the three Marys at the empty tomb of Christ. They are addressed by an angel sitting on the edge of the tomb.
The three Marys at the entrance of the tomb, and the three Marys at the empty tomb of Christ. They are addressed by an angel sitting on the edge of the tomb.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Interesting fact
In the 1870s, William Russell Frisbie opened a bakery called the Frisbie Pie Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His lightweight pie tins were embossed with the family name. In the mid-1940s, students at Yale University tossed the empty pie tins as a game.
  1. Empty
    Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; -- said of language; as, empty words, or threats. "Words are but empty thanks."
  2. Empty
    Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial; as, empty dreams.
  3. Empty
    Free; clear; devoid; -- often with of. "That fair female troop . . . empty of all good.", "I shall find you empty of that fault."
  4. Empty
    Having nothing to carry; unburdened. "An empty messenger.", "When ye go ye shall not go empty ."
  5. Empty
    Producing nothing; unfruitful; -- said of a plant or tree; as, an empty vine. "Seven empty ears blasted with the east wind."
  6. Empty
    To become empty. "The chapel empties ."
  7. Empty
    To discharge itself; as, a river empties into the ocean.
  8. Empty
    Unable to satisfy; unsatisfactory; hollow; vain; -- said of pleasure, the world, etc. "Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise."
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
Interesting fact
The river Danube empties into the Black Sea.
  1. empty
    Containing nothing, or nothing but air; void of its usual or of appropriate contents; vacant; unoccupied: said of any inclosure or allotted space: as, an empty house or room; an empty chest or purse; an empty chair or saddle.
  2. empty
    Void; devoid; destitute of some essential quality or component.
  3. empty
    Destitute of force, effect, significance, or value; without valuable content; meaningless: as, empty words; empty compliments.
  4. empty
    Destitute of knowledge or sense; ignorant: as, an empty coxcomb.
  5. empty
    Forlorn from destitution or deprivation; desolate; deserted.
  6. empty
    Wanting substance or solidity; lacking reality; unsubstantial; unsatisfactory: as, empty air; empty dreams; empty pleasures.
  7. empty
    Not burdened; not bearing a burden or a rider: as, an empty horse.
  8. empty
    Not supplied; without provision.
  9. empty
    Wanting food; fasting; hungry.
  10. empty
    Bearing no fruit; without useful product.
  11. empty
    Producing no effect or result; ineffectual.
  12. empty
    Synonyms Void, etc. (see vacant); unoccupied, bare, unfurnished.
  13. empty
    Weak, silly, senseless.
  14. empty
    Unsatisfying, vain, hollow.
  15. (n) empty
    An empty vessel or other receptacle, as a box or sack, packing-case, etc.; an empty vehicle, as a cab, freightcar, etc.: as, returned empties.
  16. empty
    To deprive of contents; remove, pour, or draw out the contents from; make vacant: with of before the thing removed: as, to empty a well or a cistern; to empty a pitcher or a purse; to empty a house of its occupants.
  17. empty
    To draw out, pour out, or otherwise remove or discharge, as the contents of a vessel: commonly with out: as, to empty out the water from a pitcher.
  18. empty
    To discharge; pour out continuously or in a steady course: as, a river empties itself or its waters into the ocean. [A strained use, which it is preferable to avoid, since a river is not emptied by its flow into the ocean.]
  19. empty
    To lay waste; make destitute or desolate.
  20. empty
    To become empty.
  21. empty
    To pour out or discharge its contents, as a river into the ocean.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Interesting fact
The term karaoke means "empty orchestra" in Japanese, and the karaoke machine was designed originally to provide backing tracks for solo cabaret performers.
  1. (adj) Empty
    emp′ti having nothing in it: unfurnished: without effect: unsatisfactory: wanting substance: foolish
  2. (v.t) Empty
    to make empty: to deprive of contents
  3. (v.i) Empty
    to become empty: to discharge its contents:—pa.p. emp′tied
  4. (n) Empty
    an empty vessel, box, sack, &c.:—pl. Emp′ties
Quotations
Aneurin Bevan
The Prime Minister has an absolute genius for putting flamboyant labels on empty luggage.
Aneurin Bevan
Empty pockets make empty heads.
William Carlos Williams
Woodrow T. Wilson
No man can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach.
Woodrow T. Wilson
Benjamin Whichcote
None are so empty as those who are full of themselves.
Benjamin Whichcote
Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go it's one of the best.
Source Unknown
Arthur Koestler
Prometheus is reaching out for the stars with an empty grin on his face.
Arthur Koestler
Idioms

Empty vessels make the most noise - The thoughtless often speak the most.

Running on empty - If you are exhausted but keep going, you are running on empty.

Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary AS. emtig, æmtig, æmetig, fr. æmta, æmetta, quiet, leisure, rest; of uncertain origin; cf. G. emsig, busy

Usage in the news

The sandbox is empty, the toys gone. northernexpress.com

Ken Gruber looks at a double-headed microscope prior to demonstrating its use in an empty surgical room at MU's Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. columbiamissourian.com

Nothing happened in the dream except that I wandered through empty rooms, then woke with a feeling of loss. texasmonthly.com

Children play on empty fuel containers outside of Savoonga, Alaska, where Shell executives have met with local residents to address their concerns. nytimes.com

Empty glasses are like unfulfilled dreams. pitch.com

Last summer's empty containers for bleach, spring water, dish detergent, antifreeze, baby wipes, cat litter and motor oil have come back to New York streets this fall as traffic barricades. nytimes.com

His empty apartment had been cast in darkness. nytimes.com

I may even be considered "creatively empty," in a world that thrives on the cutting edge. ildfowlmag.com

How many times do you drive around the Valley and see empty lots on so many street corners. ktnv.com

Empty words from the White House on the super-committee and taxes. ashingtonpost.com

US Must Be Wary of Empty Words at Iran Talks. ashingtonpost.com

Comeback leaves US empty handed. timesleader.com

Don't show up empty-handed . metro.us

Many Olympians leave London empty-handed . kcra.com

Diné contestants leave INFR empty-handed . navajotimes.com

Usage in scientific papers

Then the set L1(x) is an initial segment of L(x) (if it is not empty) and L2 (x) is a final segment of L(x) (if it is not empty).
Lattices which can be represented as lattices of intervals

First, note that the measure P is everywhere dense, that is, P(A) > 0 for any non-empty open set A ∈ T Indeed, since such a set A necessarily contains a non-empty cylinder subset A′ , which in turn contains a subset (cid:8)x ∈ X ◦(cid:9) where Λ ∈ E ∗ and x ◦ ∈ X Λ , we ◦ ) > 0.
On Gibbsianness of Random Fields

Concretely, it means that the number of fixed points any non-empty word in such random permutations is o(n) (the fact that this is true for any non-empty word is of importance here).
Cycles of free words in several independent random permutations with restricted cycle lengths

Observe that the the V -lattice inv(P ) of a non-empty semi-V -pattern P is included in Zm ∩ V and if P is empty then inv(P ) = V .
Least Significant Digit First Presburger Automata

We denote by invV (P ) the V -vector lattice invV (P ) = Zm ∩ V ∩ inv(X ) for any (empty or non-empty) semi-V -pattern P .
Least Significant Digit First Presburger Automata

Usage in literature

We did so, and were relieved to find that the street was dark and empty. "The Cryptogram" by William Murray Graydon

Value of empty comb in the new hive. "Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee" by L. L. Langstroth

My emptiness is replenished by His fulness. "Expositions of Holy Scripture" by Alexander Maclaren

It was of something big and bright and ungainly swimming silently in emptiness with a field of stars behind it. "Space Platform" by Murray Leinster

It was empty except for two figures at the further end. "Two on the Trail" by Hulbert Footner

For a supply of such combs, save all empty, clean, white pieces you can, when removing combs from a hive. "Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained" by M. Quinby

They passed an intersection, and came to an empty enclosure over which the water stretched like a blue sheet. "The Adventures of Bobby Orde" by Stewart Edward White

She emptied them out on the table, and the giant began counting them in great glee. "Children's Literature" by Charles Madison Curry

The little cove among the rocks was empty. "The Boy Tar" by Mayne Reid

Silent and empty as a vacant street was the unseen road. "A Son of Hagar" by Sir Hall Caine

Usage in poetry
I can see no goal before me;
Empty heart and idle mind.
Life monotonously o'er me
Roars, and leaves a wound behind.
"May 26, 1828" by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin Author object (24)
But still in rooms that were our own
We wander, you and I,
And night and day our spirits walk
Along the empty High.
"From A War Station" by Ewart Alan Mackintosh
When I was ill and she was pale
And empty stood our store,
She left the latchkey on its nail,
And saw me nevermore.
"The Ballad of Camden Town" by James Elroy Flecker Author object (326)
'Tis a pattern set for us,
How we ought to wait and pray;
None who plead and wrestle thus,
Shall be empty sent away.
"Woman Of Canaan" by John Newton Author object (389)
Were only half that's vainly spent
To make an empty show,
Amid the haunts of sorrow sent,
'Twould heal a world of woe.
"The Youthful Villager And The Hermit" by James Madison Bell
The street to-night is empty,
And the last slow footstep gone;
The windows grow darker and darker,
And I am left alone.
"Night In The Village" by Alexander Anderson