Definition of "empty"

empty

/ˈɛmp.ti/

adjective
comparative emptier, superlative emptiest
1. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
  Quotations
  […] something in the little man's appearance suggested that he would be sufficiently attentive to his own comfort to choose the emptiest table.
  1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 2, page 103
  United's stature is such that one result must not bring the immediate announcement of a shift in the balance of power in Manchester - but the swathes of empty seats around Old Trafford and the wave of attacks pouring towards David de Gea's goal in the second half emphasised that City quite simply have greater firepower and talent in their squad at present.
  2011 October 23, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎
2. (computing, programming, mathematics) Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
3. (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of.
  Quotations
  And I ſhal finde you emptie of that fault, / Right ioyfull of your reformation.
  c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene ii], page 144
  For that fair femal Troop thou sawst, that seemd / Of Goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay, / Yet empty of all good wherein consists / Womans domestic honour and chief praise;
  1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 614-617
4. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
  Quotations
  I hope our Ladies treaſure and our owne,May ſerue for ranſome to our liberties:Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe,That we may trauell into Siria, […]
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, (please specify the page)
  I hope it remaines not vnkindly with your Lordſhip, that I return'd you an empty Meſſenger.
  c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene vi], page 89
  And I will giue this people fauour in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall come to passe that when ye goe, ye shall not goe empty:
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Exodus 3:21
5. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
  Quotations
  […] words are but empty thanks; my future conduct best will speak my gratitude.
  1697, Colley Cibber, Woman's Wit‎, act V, page 190
6. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
  Quotations
  Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days, / Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;
  1713, Alexander Pope, “Windsor-Forest. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, lines 429-430
7. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
8. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
  Quotations
  Art thou thus bolden'd man by thy diſtres? / Or elſe a rude deſpiſer of good manners, / That in ciuility thou ſeem'ſt ſo emptie?
  c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene vii], page 203, column 2
9. (of some female animals, especially cows and sheep) Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.
10. (obsolete, of a plant or tree) Producing nothing; unfruitful.
  Quotations
  […] and the seuen emptie eares blasted with the East wind […]
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 41:27
verb
third-person singular simple present empties, present participle emptying, simple past and past participle emptied
1. (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.
  Quotations
  If the clouds be full of raine, they emptie themselues vpon the earth […]
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Ecclesiastes 11:3
  He saddens, all the magic light⁠Dies off at once from bower and hall,⁠And all the place is dark, and allThe chambers emptied of delight: […]
  1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto VIII
2. (intransitive) Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.
  Quotations
  Of these the Rhine empties into the Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine.
  1899 [2nd century], Horace White, transl., Appian
noun
plural empties
1. (chiefly in the plural) A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
  Quotations
  A number of locomotives have been drafted into the area to cover the traction shortfall, including two Class 60s: here No 60039 accelerates away from Eastleigh on the Chandlers Ford branch with the lunchtime Fareham to Whatley quarry empties [empty wagons] on 20 August 2019.
  2019 October, Steve Stubbs, photo caption, “'60' on the stone”, in Modern Railways, page 20

Definition of "empty"

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noun

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