• Void

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /vɔɪd/
    • Rhymes: -ɔɪd

    Origin 1

    From Old French vuit, voide (modern vide).

    Full definition of void

    Adjective

    void

    1. Containing nothing; empty; vacant; not occupied; not filled.
      • Bible, Genesis i. 2The earth was without form, and void.
      • ShakespeareI'll get me to a place more void.
      • MassingerI'll chain him in my study, that, at void hours,
        I may run over the story of his country.
    2. Having no incumbent; unoccupied; said of offices etc.
      • Camdendivers great offices that had been long void
    3. Being without; destitute; devoid.
      • Bible, Proverbs xi. 12He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor.
    4. Not producing any effect; ineffectual; vain.
      • Bible, Isa. lv. 11word shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please.
      • Bible, Jer. xix. 7I will make void the counsel of Judah.
    5. Of no legal force or effect, incapable of confirmation or ratification.null and void
    6. Containing no immaterial quality; destitute of mind or soul.
      • Alexander Popeidol, void and vain
    7. (computing, programming, of a function or method) That does not return a value.
      • 2005, Craig Larman, Applying UML and patternsIn particular, the roll method is void — it has no return value.
      • 2007, Andrew Krause, Foundations of GTK+ DevelopmentThe return value can safely be ignored if it is a void function.

    Noun

    void

    (plural voids)
    1. 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.
      • Alexander PopePride, where wit fails, steps in to our defence,
        And fills up all the mighty void of sense.
    2. (astronomy) An extended region of space containing no galaxies
    3. (materials science) A collection of adjacent vacancies inside a crystal lattice.
    4. (fluid mechanics) A pocket of vapour inside a fluid flow, created by cavitation.

    Synonyms

    • ((engineering) collection of vacancies) pore
    • ((engineering) pocket of vapour in fluid) bubble

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To make invalid or worthless.He voided the check and returned it.
      • Bishop Burnetafter they had voided the obligation of the oath he had taken
      • ClarendonIt was become a practice ... to void the security that was at any time given for money so borrowed.
    2. (transitive, medicine) To empty.void one’s bowels
    3. To throw or send out; to evacuate; to emit; to discharge.to void excrement
      • Barrowa watchful application of mind in voiding prejudices
      • J. WebsterWith shovel, like a fury, voided out
        The earth and scattered bones.
    4. (intransitive, obsolete) To withdraw, depart.
      • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book I.16:suche ii brethren as is kyng Ban & kyng bors ar not lyuynge, wherfore we must nedes voyde or deye.
    5. (transitive, obsolete) To remove the contents of; to make or leave vacant or empty; to quit; to leave.to void a table
      • ShakespeareIf they will fight with us, bid them come down,
        Or void the field.

    Synonyms

    Origin 2

    Alteration of voidee.

    Noun

    void

    (plural voids)
    1. (now rare, historical) A voidee. from 15th c.
      • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 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.

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