Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

evacuate

[ih-vak-yoo-eyt]

verb (used with object)

to leave empty; vacate.

to remove (persons or things) from a place, as a dangerous place or disaster area, for reasons of safety or protection: to evacuate the inhabitants of towns in the path of a flood.

to remove persons from (a city, town, building, area, etc.) for reasons of safety: to evacuate the embassy after a bomb threat.

Military.

to remove (troops, wounded soldiers, civilians, etc.) from a war zone, combat area, etc.

to withdraw from or quit (a town, fort, etc., that has been occupied).

Physiology. to discharge or eject as through the excretory passages, especially from the bowels.

EXPAND

to deprive: Fear evacuated their minds of reason.

to produce a vacuum in.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

to leave a place because of military or other threats.

to void; defecate.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Evacuate is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

chat, to converse

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin ēvacuātus (past participle of ēvacuāre to empty out, equivalent to ē- e- + vacuāre to empty); see vacuum, -ate¹

Related forms

re·e·vac·u·ate, verb, -at·ed, -at·ing.

un·e·vac·u·at·ed, adjective

Synonyms
1. empty, void, drain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To evacuate

Example Sentences

Many were left behind in the rush to evacuate by families who did not expect to be away for more than a short period.

Officials warned residents in some parts of the city to evacuate.

Call the fire department, pound on the doors, evacuate.

EXPAND

Many were left behind in the rush to evacuate by families who did not expect to be away for more than a short period.

Officials warned residents in some parts of the city to evacuate.

Call the fire department, pound on the doors, evacuate.

UN helicopters were sent to evacuate terrified aid workers under heavy fire.

Pack a bag with important items in case you need to evacuate.

When a realy serious storm does come, some people will be less likely to evacuate and cause more casualties.

Vietnamese refugees run for a rescue helicopter to evacuate them to safety.

Even if you evacuate early, you may run into some smoke.

The logic is that people would be able to evacuate before they need more pills.

State officials said it was their responsibility to evacuate patients if necessary.

Britain had already announced that it was sending a force of paratroopers to evacuate its citizens.

Power outages swept the area, and thousands of residents were forced to evacuate.

If there's a huge amount of blood, it may be necessary to try to evacuate the blood.

When the delicate birds died from inhaling poisonous gases, the workers knew to evacuate.

Even if you have an effective detection system, though, it is useless if you cannot evacuate a threatened area.

Most floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents ample time to prepare or evacuate.

If this is recorded then warning systems can sometimes be activated to evacuate people.

The authorities were slow to evacuate people downwind, slow to notify rest of world severity of situation.

Knowing how far inland a tsunami will penetrate should help the authorities to evacuate the right areas.

Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate the area when the disaster left their homes uninhabitable.

There will be a need to evacuate everything in ground-level storeys.

Evacuate your pets and all family members who are not essential to preparing the home.

Which makes me wonder why the city didn't err on the side of safety and evacuate in spite of what the specialists advised.

Last week, the government deployed troops to help evacuate the sightseers.

During the dishwashing cycle, the water will completely evacuate any virucidal residues.

If a team has to evacuate in a hurry, they fling a couple of iTunes gift cards under the tree as they bug out.

Another instance where the aircraft remained intact and everyone managed to evacuate safely.

Giuliani and his emergency team must evacuate to a safe house.

Once the wars started it got saddled with even more animals as small local zoos had to evacuate.

It's much cheaper and easier to evacuate the non-combatants from the battle zone.

Generally, floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents time to prepare or evacuate.

Marijan tells reporters he will evacuate if ordered by the sultan-but he doesn't mean the current ruler.

Government officials announced over the television and radio that everyone had to evacuate.

But apparently there was a reluctance to evacuate without some sort of governmental guidance.

Strong currents and high seas delayed efforts to evacuate.

Their work was interrupted by occasional aftershocks and new tsunami alerts that forced them to evacuate temporarily.

If advised to evacuate your home, do so immediately.

Most of the dead were prison officers on their way to evacuate inmates of a jail in the path of the flames.

Crushed under his mobile home, which he had refused to evacuate.

However, many people living near the caldera are being told to be ready to evacuate if the situation deteriorates.

Brazil will also implement an early warning system to alert and evacuate inhabitants of high-risk areas in advance of floods.

Crisp says she's not surprised that so many storm victims refused to evacuate because of their pets.

Canetti said he and other tenants were again forced to evacuate.

Not only is it illegal to build new ones, but it is illegal to fail to evacuate the existing ones.

Experts believe that a receding ocean may give people as much as five minutes' warning to evacuate the area.

People in low-lying coastal areas were urged to evacuate.

Ha insisted on re-entering the building to tell her employees to evacuate.

Three others who refused to evacuate the area died when the sea invaded their homes.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

evacuate (ɪˈvækjʊˌeɪt)

—vb
1.	(also intr) to withdraw or cause to withdraw from (a place of danger) to a place of greater safety
2.	to make empty by removing the contents of
3.	(also intr) physiol
	a. to eliminate or excrete (faeces); defecate
	b. to discharge (any waste product) from (a part of the body)
4.	(tr) to create a vacuum in (a bulb, flask, reaction vessel, etc)

[C16: from Latin ēvacuāre to void, from vacuus empty]

evacu'ation

—n

e'vacuative

—*adj*

e'vacuator

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

evacuate

c.1400 (implied in evacuation), from L. evacuatus, pp. of evacuare "empty," used by Pliny in reference to the bowels, used figuratively in L.L. for "clear out," from ex- "out" + vacuus "empty." Earliest sense in English is medical. Meaning "remove inhabitants to safer ground" is from 1934. Related: Evacuated;

EXPAND

evacuating.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

evacuate e·vac·u·ate (ĭ-vāk'y&oomacr;-āt')
v. e·vac·u·at·ed, e·vac·u·at·ing, e·vac·u·ates

To empty or remove the contents of.
To excrete or discharge waste matter, especially of the bowels.

Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com

Searching for evacuate?
How many words do you actually know?

FIND OUT

Related Words

invalid

move

Quote Of The Day

"Speech belongs half to the speaker, half to the listener. The latter must prepare to receive it according to the motion it takes."

-Michel de Montaigne

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help