evacuate

American  

[ih-vak-yoo-eyt] / ɪˈvæk yuˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

evacuated, evacuating

1. to leave empty; vacate.

   Synonyms:

   drain, void, empty

2. 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.

3. to remove persons from (a city, town, building, area, etc.) for reasons of safety.

   to evacuate the embassy after a bomb threat.

4. Military.

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

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

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

6. to deprive.

   Fear evacuated their minds of reason.

7. to produce a vacuum in.

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verb (used without object)

evacuated, evacuating

1. to leave a place because of military or other threats.

2. to void; defecate.

evacuate British  

/ ɪˈvækjʊˌeɪt /

verb

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

   1. to eliminate or excrete (faeces); defecate

   2. to discharge (any waste product) from (a part of the body)

4. (tr) to create a vacuum in (a bulb, flask, reaction vessel, etc)

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Other Word Forms

• evacuation noun
• evacuative adjective
• evacuator noun
• reevacuate verb
• unevacuated adjective

Etymology

Origin of evacuate

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin ēvacuātus “emptied out” (past participle of ēvacuāre, equivalent to ē- + vacuāre ); see origin at e- ¹, vacuum, -ate ¹

Explanation

To evacuate is to flee, like how people leave an area when a hurricane is coming. It also means to empty something completely. If you have to evacuate your home, something horrible is probably happening, like a natural disaster. People evacuate when something like a tornado or act of terrorism makes their homes unsafe. To evacuate also means to empty completely, in the bathroom-oriented sense of evacuating (emptying) your bowels. Similarly, if a chemist empties and therefore creates a vacuum in a flask, she has evacuated the flask. When you evacuate, you clear out.

Example Sentences

Aircraft with fewer people are easier to evacuate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

"I have an emergency bag prepared in case I have to evacuate... This is just a habit I got from Myanmar."

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

“Aquaman” star Jason Momoa has revealed he was forced to evacuate his family’s Hawaii home after a dangerous storm devastated the area with historic flooding.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

The 3:30 a.m. alert ordered people to immediately evacuate, but at that point, flames and smoke had been threatening the area for hours.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

For this reason, Hunt explains, “there was no discussion of a helicopter” to evacuate Ngawang from Base Camp to Kathmandu, which would have cost $5,000.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• abandon
• depart
• desert
• discharge
• displace
• expel
• leave
• move out
• pull out
• remove
• vacate
• withdraw