Forms: [1 ʓe-ǽmtiʓian], 6–7 emptie, 6– empty. [f. EMPTY a.; the form with prefix ʓe- appears in OE.; subsequently the word does not appear in our quots. before 16th c. Cf. EMPT.]
1. trans. To make empty; to pour out, draw off, or remove the contents of (anything); to clear (a house, etc.) of furniture or of inmates.
[c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom. (Th.), I. 290. [Arius] wæs swa ʓeæmtoʓod on his innoðe swa swa he wæs ær on his ʓeleafan.]
1555. Eden, Decades W. Ind., II. I. (Arb.), 110. They had emptied theyr quyuers.
1602. Carew, Cornwall, 20 b. An ill kerned or saued Haruest, soone emptieth their old store.
1623. Conway, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., I. 292, III. 157. Bleeding, [I will] emptie my vaynes.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 633. These puissant Legions, whose exile Hath emptied Heav’n.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 492/137.
| Thus while she sings, the Sisters turn the Wheel, | |
| Empty the wooly Rock, and fill the Reel. |
1763. J. Brown, Poetry & Mus., iii. 31. The Kettle is in Part empty’d in the Morning.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, XVIII. 356. All our houses … Stand emptied of their hidden treasures.
1798. Canning, New Morality, 40, in Anti-Jacobin, 9 July (1852), 202. Empty all thy quiver on the foe.
b. To transfer the whole contents of (a vessel, etc.) to another receptacle. Const. † in, into, upon. Also fig.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., III. iii. 15. Empty it in the muddie ditch.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Cinnamon & Pearls, v. 90. Markets into which we can empty our warehouses.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. 122. Bob carried … one of those iron models of sugar-loaf hats … into which he emptied the jug.
c. To drain away, pour off, clear out (the contents of anything). Also fig.
1578. T. N., trans. Conq. W. India, 31. That with two pumpes they mighte not emptie the water.
1823. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. xxiii. (1865), 396. To perceive all goodness emptied out of him.
2. To unburden, discharge, clear of (with obs.) certain specified contents. Chiefly transf. and fig.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 103. Pryde … fylleth a man or woman full of … vaynglory … but mekenes emptyeth them.
1555. Eden, Decades W. Ind., Pref. (Arb.), 55. Whether the sandes of the ryuers … bee so emptied with golde.
1593. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., IV. x. (1611), 147. Emptying the Church of euerie such rite and Ceremonie.
a. 1628. Preston, New Covt. (1629), 397. For when the spirit of bondage makes a man feare, it empties a man of all righteousnesse.
1667. Milton, P. L., III. 731. The neighbouring Moon With borrowd light her countenance triform Hence fills and empties.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., VIII. ii. And all The chambers emptied of delight.
1874. Morley, Compromise (1886), 140. Formularies, which he has first to empty of all definite … significance.
3. refl. Of persons: Chiefly said of Christ, after Gr. ἐκένωσε ἐαυτόν (A. V. ‘made himself of no reputation’) Phil. ii. 7. Formerly also, to exhaust all one’s resources.
1579. Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 114. But he emptied himselfe, that man might eate the bread of Angels, taking the shape of a seruant.
1651. N. Bacon, Hist. Disc., lvii. 170. But emptied themselves to the utmost for his delivery.
1658. Whole Duty Man, xvii. § 11. 142. Christ emptied himself of all … glory and greatness.
1741. Watts, Improv. Mind (1801), 355. Jesus the mediator emptied himself for our sakes.
1882. Farrar, Early Chr., I. 380. He … emptied Himself of His glory … as the … co-equal Son.
4. refl. Of a river, etc.: To discharge itself into another river, the sea, etc.; said also of a blood-vessel.
1555. Eden, Decades W. Ind. (Arb.), 284. A branche of Nilus which emptieth it selfe in owre sea.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxix. 173. The Veins … empty themselves into the Heart.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 306. A large river which empties itself into this bay.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. § 4. 34. The river … empties itself into the lake.
b. intr. for refl. Now chiefly in U.S.
a. 1682. Sir T. Browne, Tracts (1684), 165. The Rivers Arnon, Cedron, Zaeth, which empty into this Valley.
1692. trans. Sallust, 50. All these together empty’d into Rome as into the Common Sewer of all Disorder.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 385. Sheepscot river … empties into the ocean.
1864. G. P. Marsh, Man & Nature, 402–3. Until the year 1714, the Kander … emptied into the river Aar.
5. intr. for refl. To become empty.
1633. B. Jonson, Epithalamion, Wks. (1640), 242. The Chappell empties, and thou may’st be gone Now, Sun.
1654. Gayton, Festiv. Notes, 100. As his purse failed, or pockets emptied.
1850. Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., II. 109. Now that the town is emptying.
1885. Manch. Exam., 5 May, 5/5. The benches had almost emptied for the dinner hour.
