• IPA: /ˈɛmpti/

empty (comparative emptier, superlative emptiest)

1. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.

   an empty purse; an empty jug; an empty stomach

   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part Two, Chapter 1,

     […] something in the little man's appearance suggested that he would be sufficiently attentive to his own comfort to choose the emptiest table.

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.
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2,

     I shall find you empty of that fault,

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book XI, lines 614-7, [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_(1674)/Book_XI]

     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;

4. Having nothing to carry, emptyhanded; unburdened.
   • c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act III, Scene 6,

     I hope it remains not unkindly with your lordship that I returned you an empty messenger.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Exodus 3:21,

     And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:

5. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.

   empty words, or threats

   empty offer

   • 1697, Colley Cibber, Woman's Wit, Act V, page 190,

     […] words are but empty thanks; my future conduct best will speak my gratitude.

6. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.

   empty pleasures

   • 1713, Alexander Pope, Windsor-Forest, lines 429-430,

     Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days, / Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;

7. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.

   empty dreams

8. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.

   empty brains; an empty coxcomb

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7,

     Art thou thus bolden'd, man, by thy distress? Or else a rude despiser of good manners, / That in civility thou seem'st so empty?

9. (of some female animals, especially cows and sheep) Not pregnant; not producing offspring when expected to do so during the breeding season.

   Empty cow rates have increased in recent years.

10. (obsolete) Producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree.

    an empty vine

    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 42:27,

      […] seven empty ears blasted with the east wind […]

• (devoid of content) unoccupied, clear, leer#Etymology_3|leer, toom, clean

• full
• (computing) non-empty

• French: vide
• German: leer
• Italian: vuoto
• Portuguese: vazio
• Russian: пусто́й
• Spanish: vacío

empty (empties, present participle emptying; past and past participle emptied)

1. (transitive, ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.

   to empty a well or a cistern

   The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Ecclesiastes 11:3 ↗:

     The clouds […] empty themselves upon the earth.

2. (intransitive) Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.

   Salmon River empties on the W shore about 2 miles below Bear River.

• fill

• French: vider
• German: leeren, entleeren, ausleeren, leer machen
• Italian: vuotare, svuotare
• Portuguese: esvaziar
• Russian: опустоша́ть
• Spanish: vaciar

empty (plural empties)

1. (usually plural) A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.

   Put the empties out to be recycled.

• French: cadavre
• Portuguese: casco