evacuate

evacuate — verb

1. to make people leave a building, area, or city that is dangerous because of a wa

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to make people leave a building, area, or city that is dangerous because of a war, storm, fire, or other emergency, and send them to a safe place

Example

The government ordered everyone to evacuate the coastal area before the typhoon arrived.

evacuate + place (coastal area)

Élise's office building was evacuated after a gas leak was discovered in the basement.

passive: be evacuated from [place]

Common collocations
  • evacuate a building / area / city / village
  • evacuate residents / civilians / patients / families
  • evacuate by boat / helicopter / bus
  • mandatory evacuation
  • evacuation order
Synonyms
  • leave

    general word for going away; evacuate is stronger — it implies danger and organized movement

  • flee

    suggests panic and speed; evacuate is more planned and orderly

  • withdraw

    formal/military; usually describes troops, not civilians

Antonyms
  • occupy

    to take control of a place and stay there

  • stay

    to remain in a place instead of leaving

Grammar Patterns

evacuate + place / group of people

evacuate from + place

be evacuated from + place

Usage Note

Frequently passive (be evacuated). Can be used transitively (evacuate people / a place) or intransitively (people evacuate). When intransitive, the subject is the people leaving, and the place is stated with from.

Common Mistakes

We had to evacuate from our home' (redundant when place is already named).
We had to evacuate our home.
When the place is named as the direct object, omit from.
The police evacuated people from the building last year.' (police evacuation is unusual).
Firefighters evacuated people from the building during the fire.
Use emergency services appropriate to the situation (firefighters for fires, army for floods/war).

2. to release the contents of the stomach, bowels, or bladder from the body — a for

2.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to release the contents of the stomach, bowels, or bladder from the body — a formal medical term for what is normally called emptying the bowels or going to the toilet

Example

The surgeon asked the patient to evacuate his bowels before the morning operation.

medical context: evacuate + bowels

A special drink helps patients evacuate waste from the body after colon surgery.

evacuate + waste from the body

Common collocations
  • evacuate the bowels / bladder
  • evacuate waste / contents
  • unable to evacuate
Synonyms
  • empty

    everyday word; 'empty your bowels' is the non-medical alternative

  • excrete

    more technical/biological; evacuate is the standard medical term

  • void

    formal, mainly used in medical charts ('void urine')

Antonyms
  • retain

    to hold waste in the body rather than releasing it

Grammar Patterns

evacuate + bowels / bladder / stomach / waste

Usage Note

Used mainly in medical or formal writing. In everyday conversation, people say 'empty the bowels', 'have a bowel movement', or 'go to the toilet'. The verb is almost always transitive in this sense, with bowels, bladder, stomach, waste, or contents as the object.

Common Mistakes

I need to evacuate.' (too vague — sounds like you need to leave the building).
I need to evacuate my bowels.' or better ✅ 'I need to use the toilet.
Without a medical context, evacuate alone is understood as sense 1 (leave a dangerous place).
The doctor told him to evacuate his stomach.' (correct but very strong — implies vomiting).
The doctor told him to evacuate his bowels.
Bowels is the most common object for this sense; stomach usually refers to vomiting.

Word family

  • evacuates
    verbB2
  • evacuated
    verbB2
  • evacuating
    verbB2
  • evacuation
    nounB2
  • evacuee
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Evacuate, flee, withdraw, and escape all involve moving away from a place, but the reasons and manner differ. Evacuate is the most organized and official — it is usually done under orders from authorities (government, military, emergency services) when an area has become unsafe. Flee suggests panic and immediate danger, often without planning: people flee a burning building or a war zone. Withdraw is formal and typically used for military forces pulling back from a position; it is rarely used for civilians. Escape focuses on getting free from confinement or a specific threat, rather than clearing an area. For example: 'The government evacuated the entire village before the volcano erupted' (official, organized). 'The family fled their home when the gunfire started' (panicked, sudden). 'The troops withdrew to the riverbank' (military, planned). 'She escaped from the burning car just in time' (personal, narrow threat).

evacuate ↗flee ↗withdraw ↗escape ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • evacuation order
  • evacuation plan
  • evacuation route
  • emergency evacuation
  • mandatory evacuation

Adverbs

Phrases

  • evacuate the area
  • evacuate the building
  • evacuate residents from
  • evacuate civilians from

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Evacuate comes from Latin evacuare, meaning 'to empty out' — formed from e- ('out') and vacuus ('empty'). The word was first used in English in the 1500s in its medical sense (emptying the bowels). The meaning of moving people from a dangerous place developed later in the 1800s, following the idea of 'emptying' a building or area of its inhabitants.