Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Containing nothing; empty: Completely lacking contents or inhabitants.
   • Lacking something; devoid: Entirely without a particular quality or element.
   • Having no legal force; invalid: Nullified and without binding power in law.

2. Noun:

   • A completely empty space: A vast, unfilled area or gap.
   • An emptiness or absence: A feeling of loss or an unfilled space, especially an emotional one.
   • The state of nothingness: Non-existence or a vacuum.

3. Verb:

   • To make legally invalid; to nullify: To declare that something has no legal force or effect.
   • To empty out; to clear: To remove contents or occupants from a space.
   • To discharge or excrete from the body: (Medical/formal) To evacuate waste.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The contract was declared void. (The agreement was made legally invalid.)
  • His words were void of meaning. (His speech completely lacked meaning.)
  • They stared into the void expanse of space. (They looked into the empty vastness of space.)

• Noun:

  • The loss of her friend left a void in her life. (Her friend's death created an emotional emptiness.)
  • The rocket vanished into the void. (The rocket disappeared into empty space.)
  • He tried to fill the void with work. (He attempted to occupy the emptiness with his job.)

• Verb:

  • The court voided the agreement. (The court nullified the contract.)
  • Please void the contents of the bottle. (Please empty the bottle.)
  • The building was voided before the storm. (The building was cleared of people.)

Advanced Usage

• "null and void": A legal phrase meaning completely invalid and without any force.
  • The judge ruled the old law null and void.
• "void of": Entirely lacking a specific quality.
  • A statement void of logic is hard to defend.
• To "feel a void": To experience a sense of emptiness or loss.
  • After retiring, he felt a void where his purpose used to be.

Variants and Related Words

• Voidable (adj): Capable of being declared invalid.
  • The clause was voidable under certain conditions.
• Voidance (n): The act of voiding or state of being voided.
  • The voidance of the treaty caused diplomatic tension.
• Devoid (adj): Completely lacking; a close synonym often used as "devoid of."
  • The landscape was devoid of trees.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Empty, vacant, invalid, null, devoid, bare.
• Noun: Vacuum, emptiness, nothingness, blankness, gap.
• Verb: Nullify, invalidate, annul, cancel, empty, evacuate.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Void" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its meanings are typically expressed directly or with prepositions like "void of.")

Related Idioms

• To fill a void: To provide something that is missing or needed.
  • The new community center helped fill a void in the neighborhood.
• A yawning void: A very large and profound emptiness (often emotional or spatial).
  • The departure of the team's leader created a yawning void.

Adjective

1. containing nothing
   • the earth was without form, and void
2. lacking any legal or binding force
   • null and void

Noun

1. an empty area or space
   • the huge desert voids
   • the emptiness of outer space
   • without their support he'll be ruling in a vacuum
2. the state of nonexistence

Verb

1. excrete or discharge from the body
2. take away the legal force of or render ineffective
   • invalidate a contract
3. clear (a room, house, place) of occupants or empty or clear (a place or receptacle) of something
   • The chemist voided the glass bottle
   • The concert hall was voided of the audience
4. declare invalid
   • The contract was annulled
   • void a plea