vacuum
/ˈvæ.kjuːm/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.09 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
A ground state of a quantum field or of local spacetime, or more abstractly the lowest-energy state of a system.
noun
A ground state of a quantum field or of local spacetime, or more abstractly the lowest-energy state of a system.
Example Sentences
- "The Wards are open-topped, with skyscrapers rising from the superstructure. Towers are sealed against vacuum, as the breathable atmosphere envelope is only maintained to a height of about seven meters. The atmosphere is contained by the centrifugal force of rotation and a "membrane" of dense, colorless sulphur hexafluoride gas, held in place by carefully managed mass effect fields."
- "a vacuum of 26 inches of mercury, or 13 pounds per square inch"
- "Henrietta soon found a terrible vacuum left, by the letters in which she used to pour forth every feeling and thought to her uncle."
- "Abs show up in a most-muscular shot, a vacuum shot, the hands-behind-head compulsory ab shot, twisting poses, and so on."
- "Right I'm off to practice my vacuum - suck in those stomachs now!"
- "When I do the 'gut vacuum' exercise the abdominal wall seems to return to normal size, as far as I can tell under the flab."
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner.
Word Breakdown
- Root: vacuum
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
abdominal vacuum
bee vacuum
central vacuum
double Kerr vacuum
false vacuum
high vacuum
in a vacuum
Kerns-Wild vacuum