emptyadjective
uk/ˈemp.ti/us/ˈemp.ti/empty adjective (NOTHING IN)
A2 not containing any things or people:
an empty house/street
Shall I take the empty bottles for recycling?
The train was empty (= there were no passengers) by the time it reached London.
More examples
- Put the empty box in the rubbish bin.
- The room was empty except for a wardrobe standing in one corner.
- Could you put that crate of empty bottles outside the back door, please?
- I pulled into the empty parking space.
- When I reached the supermarket checkout, I found to my horror that my purse was completely empty.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Empty
- bare
- barren
- blank
- clear
- dead
- deserted
- desolate
- desolation
- emptiness
- flat
- hollow
- lifeless
- nothingness
- unfurnished
- uninhabited
- unoccupied
- vacant
- vacuum
- void
empty adjective (NOT SINCERE)
C1 [ usually before noun ] not sincere or without any real meaning:
empty threats/rhetoric
They're just empty promises.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Affected & insincere
- affectation
- affected
- artificial
- artsy-fartsy
- arty-farty
- cheesy
- forced
- glib
- histrionic
- histrionics
- hokey
- meretricious
- pious
- precocious
- pretension
- pretentious
- pseud
- pseudo-
- slick
- theatrical
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empty adjective (WITHOUT PURPOSE)
without purpose or interest:
He says his life has been completely empty since his wife died.
I felt empty, like a part of me had died.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Useless and futile
- a mug's game idiom
- adrift
- aimless
- airy-fairy
- be at a loose end idiom
- fool's errand
- for the hell of it idiom
- frivolous
- fruitless
- futile
- motiveless
- negate
- no good idiom
- nugatory
- ornamental
- use
- useless
- vain
- vainly
- what good is ... idiom
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emptily
adverb uk/ˈemp.təl.i/us/ˈemp.təl.i/
Idiom(s)
on an empty stomach
emptyverb
uk/ˈemp.ti/us/ˈemp.ti/[ T ] to remove everything from inside something:
I emptied the closet and put my belongings into the black overnight case.
Would you mind emptying (out) your pockets?
Empty the soup into a saucepan and simmer gently for ten minutes.
She quickly emptied her glass (= drank its contents) and ordered another drink.
[ I ] to become empty:
The place emptied pretty quickly when the fight started.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Emptying
- clear
- drain
- gut
- hollow
- hollow sth out
- land
- let
- let sth out
- turn
- turn sth out
- unload
- unpack
- vacate
Phrasal verb(s)
empty into sth
emptynoun [ C usually plural ]
uk/ˈemp.ti/us/ˈemp.ti/an empty bottle or other container, especially one that contained drink:
Don't forget to recycle the empties.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Containers for liquids and gases
- aerosol
- amphora
- barrel
- bottle
- bucket
- canister
- flask
- jar
- jeroboam
- jerrycan
- jug
- keg
- Kilner jar
- oilcan
- pitcher
- vase
- vat
- vial
- water bottle
- water tank
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