void

[void] /vɔɪd/
adjective
1.
Law. having no legal force or effect; not legally binding or enforceable.
2.
useless; ineffectual; vain.
3.
devoid; destitute (usually followed by of):
a life void of meaning.
4.
without contents; empty.
5.
without an incumbent, as an office.
6.
Mathematics. (of a set) empty.
7.
(in cards) having no cards in a suit.
noun
8.
an empty space; emptiness:
He disappeared into the void.
9.
something experienced as a loss or privation:
His death left a great void in her life.
10.
a gap or opening, as in a wall.
11.
a vacancy; vacuum.
12.
Typography. counter3 (def 10).
13.
(in cards) lack of cards in a suit:
a void in clubs.
verb (used with object)
14.
to make ineffectual; invalidate; nullify:
to void a check.
15.
to empty; discharge; evacuate:
to void excrement.
16.
to clear or empty (often followed by of):
to void a chamber of occupants.
17.
Archaic. to depart from; vacate.
verb (used without object)
18.
to defecate or urinate.
Origin
1250-1300; (adj.) Middle English voide < Anglo-French, Old French < Vulgar Latin *vocīta, feminine of *vocītus, dissimilated variant of Latin vocīvus, itself variant of vac(ī)vus empty; see vacuum; (v.) Middle English voiden < Anglo-French voider, Old French < Vulgar Latin *vocītāre, derivative of *vocītus; (noun) derivative of the adj.
Related forms
voidness, noun
nonvoid, adjective, noun
prevoid, verb (used with object)
unvoid, adjective
unvoidness, noun
Synonyms
3, 4. See empty. 5. vacant, unoccupied. 8. vacuum.
Examples from the web for void
  • Bankruptcy would have made the contracts null and void, at best in line with all the unsecured creditors.
  • These intentionally confusing spaces are created in part by a long void that cuts through the length and height of the museum.
  • Not surprisingly, three decades later there is no shortage of observers rushing to fill the void with all sorts of explanations.
  • The difference between manufacturing and services is not an ontological void between making things and not making things.
  • When one firm shuts a factory, the other cannot fill the void quickly.
  • Why would anyone want to buy a property and pretend to live in such a controlling, unfair and culturally void state.
  • Running liners is a business that must return a profit, and be as void of sentiment as running trains.
  • The fact that his career was so short-he went mad at twenty-nine-makes this void more painful.
  • Relying on growth in this way might be fine if the global economy existed in a void, but it does not.
  • It makes sense that matter would spread to fill the void beyond it's perimeter.
British Dictionary definitions for void

void

/vɔɪd/
adjective
1.
without contents; empty
2.
not legally binding: null and void
3.
(of an office, house, position, etc) without an incumbent; unoccupied
4.
(postpositive) foll by of. destitute or devoid: void of resources
5.
having no effect; useless: all his efforts were rendered void
6.
(of a card suit or player) having no cards in a particular suit: his spades were void
noun
7.
an empty space or area: the huge desert voids of Asia
8.
a feeling or condition of loneliness or deprivation: his divorce left him in a void
9.
a lack of any cards in one suit: to have a void in spades
10.
Also called counter. the inside area of a character of type, such as the inside of an o
verb (mainly transitive)
11.
to make ineffective or invalid
12.
to empty (contents, etc) or make empty of contents
13.
(also intransitive) to discharge the contents of (the bowels or urinary bladder)
14.
(archaic) to vacate (a place, room, etc)
15.
(obsolete) to expel
Derived Forms
voider, noun
voidness, noun
Word Origin
C13: from Old French vuide, from Vulgar Latin vocītus (unattested), from Latin vacuus empty, from vacāre to be empty
Word Origin and History for void
adj.

late 13c., "unoccupied, vacant," from Anglo-French and Old French voide "empty, vast, wide, hollow, waste," from Latin vocivus "unoccupied, vacant," related to vacuus "empty" (see vacuum). Meaning "lacking or wanting" (something) is recorded from early 15c. Meaning "legally invalid" is attested from mid-15c.

n.

"empty space, vacuum," 1727; see void (adj.).

v.

"to clear" (some place, of something), c.1300, from void (adj.); meaning "to deprive (something) of legal validity" is attested from early 14c. Related: Voided; voiding.

void in Medicine

void (void)
v. void·ed, void·ing, voids
To excrete body wastes. adj.
Containing no matter; empty.

Idioms and Phrases with void

void

see: null and void