va⋅can⋅cy
[vey-kuh
n-see] 
| 1. | the state of being vacant; emptiness. |
| 2. | a vacant, empty, or unoccupied place, as untenanted lodgings or offices: This building still has no vacancies. |
| 3. | a gap; opening; breach. |
| 4. | an unoccupied position or office: a vacancy on the Supreme Court. |
| 5. | lack of thought or intelligence; vacuity: a look of utter vacancy. |
| 6. | Crystallography. (in a crystal) an imperfection resulting from an unoccupied lattice position. Compare interstitial (def. 3). |
| 7. | Archaic. absence of activity; idleness. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
| va·can·cy (vā'kən-sē) n. pl. va·can·cies
|
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Vacancy
Va"can*cy\, n.; pl. Vacancies. [Cf. F. vacance.]1. The quality or state of being vacant; emptiness; hence, freedom from employment; intermission; leisure; idleness; listlessness. All dispositions to idleness or vacancy, even before they are habits, are dangerous. --Sir H. Wotton. 2. That which is vacant. Specifically: (a) Empty space; vacuity; vacuum. How is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy? --Shak. (b) An open or unoccupied space between bodies or things; an interruption of continuity; chasm; gap; as, a vacancy between buildings; a vacancy between sentences or thoughts. (c) Unemployed time; interval of leisure; time of intermission; vacation. Time lost partly in too oft idle vacancies given both to schools and universities. --Milton. No interim, not a minute's vacancy. --Shak. Those little vacancies from toil are sweet. --Dryden. (d) A place or post unfilled; an unoccupied office; as, a vacancy in the senate, in a school, etc.Cite This Source
vacancy
in crystallography, absence of an atom or molecule from a point that it would normally occupy in a crystal. Such an imperfection (crystal defect) in the regular spacing of atoms changes the electrical and optical properties of the crystal. Colour centres are vacancies that give colour to many solids. Vacancies can be created by mechanical deformation of the crystal, rapid cooling from high temperature, or the impact of radiation on the crystal. In the so-called Schottky defect, an atom moves from the inside of the crystal to its surface, leaving behind an isolated vacancy. In the Frenkel defect, an atom moves to a new position between other atoms of the solid. The empty space created by the migration of the atom is a vacancy. The relative numbers of these two types of defects vary from crystal to crystal. See also colour centre.
Learn more about vacancy with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
