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Empty vs Barren - What's the difference?

empty | barren | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between empty and barren

is that empty is devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant while barren is unable to bear children; sterile.

As nouns the difference between empty and barren

is that empty is a container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty while barren is an area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.

As a verb empty

is to make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.

empty

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
    • an empty''' purse; an '''empty''' jug; an '''empty stomach
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 23 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=United's stature is such that one result must not bring the immediate announcement of a shift in the balance of power in Manchester - but the swathes of empty seats around Old Trafford and the wave of attacks pouring towards David de Gea's goal in the second half emphasised that City quite simply have greater firepower and talent in their squad at present.}}
  • (computing, programming) Containing no elements (as of a string or array), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
  • (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of .
  • * Milton
    • that fair female troop empty of all good
  • * Shakespeare
    • I shall find you empty of that fault.
  • Having nothing to carry; unburdened.
  • * Shakespeare
    • an empty messenger
  • * Bible, Exodus iii. 21
    • When ye go ye shall not go empty .
  • Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
    • empty words, or threats
  • * Cibber
    • Words are but empty thanks.
  • Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
    • empty pleasures
  • * Alexander Pope
    • pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise
  • Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
    • empty dreams
  • (obsolete) Producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree.
    • an empty vine
  • * Bible, Genesis xli. 27
    • seven empty ears blasted with the east wind
  • Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
    • empty''' brains; an '''empty coxcomb
  • * Shakespeare
    • that in civility thou seem'st so empty

    Synonyms

    * (devoid of content) unoccupied, clear, , toom, clean

    Antonyms

    * full

    Derived terms

    * empty-handed * emptiness * empty product * empty set * empty sum

    Verb

  • (ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.
    • to empty a well or a cistern
    The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.
  • * Bible, Eccl. xi. 3
    • The clouds empty themselves upon the earth.

    Antonyms

    * fill

    Derived terms

    * empty the tank

    Noun

    (empties)
  • A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
    • Put the empties out to be recycled.

    Derived terms

    * emptiness * run on empty

    External links

    * * English refractory feminine rhymes 1000 English basic words

    barren

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (label) Unable to bear children; sterile.
    • I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren ?
  • Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.
  • * (1800–1859)
    • barren mountain tracts
  • * '>citation
  • Bleak.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./4/2
    • , passage=As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.}}
  • Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
  • * (1796-1859)
    • brilliant but barren reveries
  • * (Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
    • Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 2, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC
    • , title= Bulgaria 0-3 England , passage=Rooney had been suffered a barren spell for England with only one goal in 15 games but he was in no mood to ignore the gifts on offer in front of an increasingly subdued Bulgarian support.}}
  • Mentally dull; stupid.
  • * (William Shakespeare), (Hamlet), III.ii. ca. 1602
    • Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.

    Synonyms

    * sterile

    Antonyms

    * fertile * fruitful

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.
    • The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.