VACUUM

vacuum, vacuum cleaner

(noun) an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction

vacuum, vacuity

(noun) a region that is devoid of matter

void, vacancy, emptiness, vacuum

(noun) an empty area or space; “the huge desert voids”; “the emptiness of outer space”; “without their support he’ll be ruling in a vacuum”

vacuum, vacuity

(noun) the absence of matter

vacuum, vacuum-clean, hoover

(verb) clean with a vacuum cleaner; “vacuum the carpets”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

vacuum (plural vacuums or vacua) (see usage notes)

A region of space that contains no matter.

(plural only "vacuums") A vacuum cleaner.

The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, such as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.

(physics) A spacetime having tensors of zero magnitude

Usage notes

• The Latin in vacuo is sometimes used instead of in a vacuum (in free space).

Synonyms

• (a region of space that contains no matter): vacancy, void

• (vacuum cleaner): hoover (British)

Antonyms

• (region of space that contains no matter): plenum

Verb

vacuum (third-person singular simple present vacuums, present participle vacuuming, simple past and past participle vacuumed)

(transitive) To clean (something) with a vacuum cleaner.

(intransitive) To use a vacuum cleaner.

(transitive, databases) To optimise a database or database table by physically removing deleted tuples.

Synonyms

• (transitive sense): to hoover (British)

• (intransitive sense): to do the hoovering, to hoover (British)

Source: Wiktionary

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Vac"u*um, n.; pl. E. Vacuums, L. Vacua. Etym: [L., fr. vacuus empty. See Vacuous.]

1. (Physics)

Definition: A space entirely devoid of matter (called also, by way of distinction, absolute vacuum); hence, in a more general sense, a space, as the interior of a closed vessel, which has been exhausted to a high or the highest degree by an air pump or other artificial means; as, water boils at a reduced temperature in a vacuum.

2. The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.; as, a vacuum of 26 inches of mercury, or 13 pounds per square inch. Vacuum brake, a kind of continuous brake operated by exhausting the air from some appliance under each car, and so causing the pressure of the atmosphere to apply the brakes.

– Vacuum pan (Technol.), a kind of large closed metallic retort used in sugar making for boiling down sirup. It is so connected with an exhausting apparatus that a partial vacuum is formed within. This allows the evaporation and concentration to take place at a lower atmospheric pressure and hence also at a lower temperature, which largely obviates the danger of burning the sugar, and shortens the process.

– Vacuum pump. Same as Pulsometer, 1.

– Vacuum tube (Phys.), a glass tube provided with platinum electrodes and exhausted, for the passage of the electrical discharge; a Geissler tube.

– Vacuum valve, a safety valve opening inward to admit air to a vessel in which the pressure is less than that of the atmosphere, in order to prevent collapse.

– Torricellian vacuum. See under Torricellian.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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