Dictionary

evacuate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈvæk.ju.eɪt/
• (UK) audio

Etymology

First attested in 1526; borrowed from Latin ēvacuātus, the perfect passive participle of ēvacuō (“to empty out, evacuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To leave or withdraw from; to quit; to retire from.
   • The firefighters told us to evacuate the area as the flames approached.
   • The Norwegians were forced to evacuate the country. 1757, Edmund Burke, The Abridgement of the History of England:
   • The soldiers evacuated the fortress.
2. To cause (or help) to leave or withdraw from.
   • The firefighters decided to evacuate all the inhabitants from the street.
   • Early the next morning I set off on the long and hazardous trek through jungles and hills into Assam, and regretfully said "good-bye" to the gallant little Burma Railways, which had functioned to the last and played a big part in evacuating many thousands of refugees and wounded soldiers in the path of the rapidly advancing Japanese. 1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 327:
3. To make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum.
   • The scientist evacuated the chamber before filling it with nitrogen.
4. (figuratively) To make empty; to deprive.
   • Evacuate the Scriptures of their most important doctrines. 1825, James Marsh, Preliminary Essay to Aids to Reflection:
5. To remove; to eject; to void; to discharge, as the contents of a vessel, or of the bladder or the bowels (to stool).
   • In the living state, the body is observed to receive aliment; to assimilate a part; to evacuate what is redundant or useless; [...] 1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh; London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 1:
6. To make void; to nullify; to vacate.
   • it would not evacuate a marriage after cohabitation and actual consummation 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:
   • to evacuate a contract or marriage

Forms

Deriveds

evacuatory · self-evacuate · evacuee · evacuative · ejaculate and evacuate · evacuator

Descendants

ebak · bakwit · bakwit

Relateds

evacuation

Translations (76)

hu kiürít (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sh ispražnjávati (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · el εκκενώνω (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ar خَلَّى (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · mh eakto (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sw hamisha (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · it evacuare (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ca evacuar (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ru опустоша́ть (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · sh evakuírati (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · da evakuere (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ru опорожни́ть (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · nb evakuere (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ar خلا (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · fi evakuoida (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sq evakuoj (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ru эвакуи́ровать (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · eo evakui (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · bg евакуи́рам (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · de entleeren (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · ar جَلَا (to cause to leave or withdraw from) · sh испражња́вати (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · sh isprázniti (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · es evacuar (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · nb evakuere (to cause to leave or withdraw from) · hy էվակուացնել (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · la ēvacuō (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · uk евакуюва́ти (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ko 비우다 (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ar فَرَّغَ (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · cmn 撤離 /撤离 (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ja 疎開する (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ru опустоши́ть (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · sv evakuera (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · pt evacuar (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · cs evakuovat (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · th อพยพ (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · fr évacuer (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · hu kimenekít (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · vi di tản (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · az köçürmək (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ga folmhaigh (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · sk evakuovať (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sl evakuirati (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · cmn 後送 /后送 (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · mk евакуи́ра (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · hu kitelepít (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · kk эвакуациялау (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · nl evacueren (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · be эвакуі́раваць (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ro a evacua (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ru опорожня́ть (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · lv evakuēt (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ja 避難する (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sh евакуи́сати (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sh evakuísati (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · pl ewakuować (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · cmn 疏散 (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · mi whakatahi (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · lt evakuoti (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · fi tyhjentää (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ar أَفْرَغَ (to make empty; to deprive) · ka ევაკუირება (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sh евакуи́рати (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · hu evakuál (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sv utrymma (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · lo ອົບພະຍົບ (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · bg вакуумирам (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · et evakueeruma (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · is rýma (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · km អពយព (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · ar أَخْلَى (to cause to leave or withdraw from) · bg изпразвам (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · nb evakuere (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum) · de evakuieren (to move out of an unsafe location into safety) · sh испра́знити (to make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum)