To vacate means to leave a place and make it empty. When your family vacates a hotel room, you pack up your belongings and check out, leaving the room empty for the next guests. When a judge vacates a courtroom, everyone must leave so the room stands empty.

The word often appears in formal contexts. A tenant might receive notice to vacate an apartment by the end of the month, meaning they must move out completely. A referee might order spectators to vacate the stands during a safety emergency. Vacating suggests a more official or complete departure than simply “leaving.” You leave your classroom every afternoon, but you only vacate it if you're moving to a different school.

In legal contexts, vacate has a special meaning: to cancel or nullify something officially. When a court vacates a decision, it erases that ruling as if it never happened. A championship might be vacated if the winner is later found to have cheated.

The related word vacancy means an empty position or space, like a vacancy at a motel or a job vacancy at a company. Think of vacate as the action that creates emptiness.