void

See also: võid

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɔɪd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪd
  • Hyphenation: void

Etymology 1

From Middle English voide, voyde, from Old French vuit, voide, vuide (modern vide), in turn from Vulgar Latin *vocitum, ultimately from Latin vacuus.

Adjective

void (not comparable)

  1. Containing nothing; empty; not occupied or filled.
    Synonyms: vacant, unfilled; see also Thesaurus:empty
  2. Having no incumbent; unoccupied; said of offices etc.
  3. (with of) Being without; destitute; devoid.
    Synonyms: bereft of, destitute of; see also Thesaurus:lacking
  4. Not producing any effect; ineffectual; vain.
    Synonyms: pointless, useless; see also Thesaurus:futile
  5. Of no legal force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification.
    null and void
    • 2022 September 21, Martin Pollard, Ben Blanchard, “China willing to make utmost effort for peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan”, in Michael Perry, editor, Reuters‎[1], archived from the original on 21 September 2022, Asia Pacific‎[2]:
      Taiwan's government says that as the island has never been ruled by the People's Republic of China, its sovereignty claims are void.
  6. Containing no immaterial quality; destitute of mind or soul.
    • 1728, Alexander Pope, “Book II”, in The Dunciad; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 231:
      And senseless words she gave, and sounding strain, / But senseless, lifeless! idol void and vain!
  7. (programming, of a function or method) That does not return a value; being a procedure rather than a function.
    • 2005, Craig Larman, Applying UML and patterns:
      In particular, the roll method is void — it has no return value.
    • 2007, Andrew Krause, Foundations of GTK+ Development:
      The return value can safely be ignored if it is a void function.
  8. (bridge) Having no cards in a particular suit.
Descendants
  • → Welsh: foed
Translations

Noun

void (plural voids)

  2. An empty space; a vacuum.
    Nobody has crossed the void since one man died trying three hundred years ago; it's high time we had another go.
    • 1711, Alexander Pope, “Part II”, in An Essay on Criticism, lines 9–10; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 70:
      Pride, where Wit fails, steps in to our defence, / And fills up all the mighty void of Sense.
  3. (astronomy) An extended region of space containing no galaxies.
  4. (materials science) A collection of adjacent vacancies inside a crystal lattice.
  5. (fluid mechanics) A pocket of vapour inside a fluid flow, created by cavitation.
  6. (construction) An empty space between floors or walls, including false separations and planned gaps between a building and its facade.
  7. (Internet slang, humorous, endearing) A black cat.
    Antonym: (a white cat) cloud
    My little void is so sweet sometimes.
  8. An empty place; a location that has nothing useful.
    • 2022 December 14, Paul Stephen, “HS2's Dorothy starts to dig second tunnel bore”, in RAIL, number 972, page 23:
      From the logistics hub, the spoil will be taken by rail to Barrington in Cambridgeshire, Cliffe in Kent, and Rugby in Warwickshire. It will be used to fill voids at these locations which will then be used for housing developments.
  9. (bridge) The lack of cards in a particular suit.
    Coordinate terms: singleton, doubleton
  10. A cavity or empty space caused by water erosion.
    • 2025 February 5, “Network News: "Large void" caused by damaged pipe led to Class 195 derailment”, in RAIL, number 1028, page 18:
      A hidden void caused by a partially buried pipe being damaged by a tamper during routine maintenance led to the derailment of a passenger train. […] The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reported that a "large void" was found in the embankment, but had remained hidden until the train travelled over it.
  11. (medicine, urology) An instance of urination.
Synonyms
  • ((engineering) collection of vacancies): pore
  • ((engineering) pocket of vapour in fluid): bubble
Hyponyms
  • ((astronomy) An extended region of space containing no galaxies): Local Void
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

void (third-person singular simple present voids, present participle voiding, simple past and past participle voided)

  1. (transitive) To make invalid or worthless.
    Near-synonym: nullify
    He voided the check and returned it.
    Opening this subassembly will void the warranty; there are no user-serviceable parts inside it.
  2. (transitive, medicine) Synonym of empty (verb).
    void one’s bladder
    void one’s bowels
  3. To throw or send out; to evacuate; to emit; to discharge.
    to void excrement
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
    • 1612, John Webster, The White Devil:
      With shovel, like a fury, voided out / The earth and scattered bones.
    • a. 1692, Isaac Barrow, The Danger and Mischief of Delaying Repentance:
      a watchful application of mind in voiding prejudices
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To withdraw, depart.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xvj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
      BY than come in to the feld kynge Ban as fyers as a lyon […] / Ha a said kyng Lot we must be discomfyte / for yonder I see the moste valyaunt knyght of the world / and the man of the most renoume / for suche ij bretheren as is kyng Ban & kyng bors ar not lyuynge / wherfore we must nedes voyde or deye
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To remove the contents of; to make or leave vacant or empty; to quit; to leave.
    to void a table
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Alteration of voidee.

Noun

void (plural voids)

  1. (now rare, historical) A voidee. [from 15th c.]
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 68:
      Late on the final evening, as the customary ‘void’ – spiced wine and sweetmeats – was served, more elaborate disguisings in the great hall culminated in the release of a flock of white doves.

Anagrams

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from English void.

Pronunciation

Adjective

void (comparative lebih void, superlative paling void)

  1. (law) void (having lost all legal validity)

Noun

void (plural void-void)

  1. (construction, sometimes technical) void (an empty space between floors or walls, including false separations and planned gaps between a building and its facade)
    Synonym: ruang hampa

Further reading

Middle French

Alternative forms

Verb

void

  1. third-person singular indicative present of veoir
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