the twenty-second letter of our alphabet, a differentiated form of U—in sound it is a labio-dental and closely related to F. As a Roman numeral V=5; V=5000.
Vacant, vā′kant, adj. empty: free: not occupied by an incumbent or possessor: not occupied with study, &c.: thoughtless, inane.—n. Vā′cancy, emptiness: idleness: empty space, void or gap between bodies: a situation unoccupied: (Shak.) unoccupied or leisure time.—adv. Vā′cantly.—v.t. Vacāte′, to leave empty: to quit possession of: (obs.) to annul, to make useless.—ns. Vacā′tion, a vacating or making void or invalid: freedom from, duty, &c.: recess: break in the sittings of law-courts: school and college holidays; Vacā′tionist, one travelling for pleasure.—adj. Vacā′tionless.—n. Vacā′tur, the act of annulling in law. [Fr.,—L. vacans, -antis, pr.p. of vacāre, -ātum, to be empty.]
Vaccinate, vak′si-nāt, v.t. to inoculate with the cowpox as a preventive against smallpox.—adjs. Vaccig′enous, producing vaccine; Vac′cinal, pertaining to vaccine or to vaccination.—ns. Vaccinā′tion; Vac′cinātor, one who vaccinates.—adj. Vac′cine, pertaining to or derived from cows: of or relating to vaccinia or vaccination.—n. the virus of cowpox or vaccinia used in the process of vaccination.—n. Vaccin′ia, an eruptive disease occurring in cattle—also Vaccī′na. [L. vaccīnus—vacca, a cow.]
Vachery, vash′ėr-i, n. a dairy.
Vacillate, vas′i-lāt, v.i. to sway to and fro: to waver: to be unsteady.—adjs. Vac′illant, vacillating; Vac′illāting, inclined to fluctuate: wavering: unsteady.—adv. Vac′illātingly.—n. Vacillā′tion, act of vacillating.—adj. Vac′illātory, wavering. [L. vacillāre, -ātum.]
Vacuous, vak′ū-us, adj. empty, void: without intelligence, unexpressive.—v.t. Vac′uāte, to make empty.—ns. Vacuā′tion; Vac′uist, one who thinks there are empty spaces in nature; Vacū′ity, emptiness: space unoccupied: idleness, listlessness; Vac′uōle, a very small cavity in the tissue of organisms; Vac′uousness; Vac′ūum, vacant or empty space: a space empty or devoid of all matter:—pl. Vac′ūa; Vac′ūum-brake, a brake working on the principle of keeping up a vacuum in a continuous pipe or pipes extending under the train, and in brake-cylinders connected to them under each vehicle, the air being sucked out by ejectors or pumps on the locomotive; Vac′ūum-gauge, a gauge for indicating to what extent a vacuum is produced; Vac′ūum-pan, a vessel for boiling saccharine juices in a partial vacuum in sugar-making; Vac′ūum-tube, a sealed glass tube in which a vacuum has been made, employed to examine the effects of a discharge of electricity through air or gas rarefied or exhausted. [L. vacuus, empty.]
Vade, vād, v.i. (Shak.) to fade. [Fade.]
Vade-mecum, vā′dē-mē′kum, n. a hand-book, pocket-companion. [L., 'go with me'—vadĕre, to go, me, abl. of ego, I, cum, with.]