From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishvacantva‧cant /ˈveɪkənt/ ●●○ adjective 1 EMPTYAVAILABLEa vacant seat, building, room, or piece of land is empty and available for someone to use Only a few apartments were still vacant. There was only a vacant lot (=empty unused area of land in a city) where her house used to be.► see thesaurus at emptyRegisterIn everyday English, people usually say that a seat or room is free rather than vacant:Is this seat free?2 BE formal a job or position in an organization that is vacant is available for someone to start doingfall vacant British English (=become vacant) He was offered the position of headmaster when it fell vacant.situations vacant British English (=the part of a newspaper where jobs are advertised)3 → vacant expression/look/stare etc —vacantly adverb Cindy was staring vacantly into space.
Examples from the Corpus
vacant• During the 1870s agricultural depression had led to land and even rural jobs lying vacant.• The flat above was reserved for some sort of company letting and was, at present, vacant.• Half of the apartments in the building are vacant.• He applied for the job of Eliot's personal secretary, which had just fallen vacant.• Of the buildings the company owns, only 3% are vacant.• The next guesthouse we tried had a couple of rooms vacant.• She stared back at him, more vacant and stupid than he had ever seen her.• The police had set up a temporary station in a vacant apartment across the street.• If you're looking for somewhere to rent, I think there's a vacant apartment in my building.• When the post became vacant it was offered to Wendy Brooks.• It was the elder Gough who founded the Marin Weightlifting Club and relocated it to the vacant machine shop in 1990.• Our company only has one or two vacant positions at the moment.• He said there would be no enforced redundancies, but some vacant posts would remain unfilled.• Clinton has appointed three successors to the vacant posts.• There don't seem to be any vacant rooms in the whole of London!• Brunton went into the bar, but he couldn't spot a single vacant seat.• Then the station you left hires some one to fill your vacant slot.vacant lot• At 11 p. m., he said, a man telephoned his room, and together they drove to a vacant lot.• He'd even searched the vacant lots.• On our march we camped one night in a vacant lot adjoining a female seminary at Gordonsville.• Sanitation: A special task force shall be assigned to clean up all vacant lots and trashed areas throughout the deprived areas.• Broughton said the codes would make it simpler to build on small hillside vacant lots in older developed neighborhoods.• Woke up to hear bulldozers Rumble through vacant lots, Saw houseplants we forgot to water Shrivelled in their pots.• We stood in the vacant lot, which was still a vacant lot, where the three tramps were found.situations vacant• On revision mornings, however, she even read the situations vacant pages.From Longman Business Dictionaryvacantva‧cant /ˈveɪkənt/ adjective1PROPERTYproperty that is vacant is not being used and may be available to rent or buyThe committee recommended that factories should be sited on vacant land in small towns rather than in villages or the open countryside.The number of vacant properties for all housing applicants has fallen during the same period.2HUMAN RESOURCESvacant jobs or positions in a company are available for someone to start doingShe turned down two job offers before accepting the vacant post of deputy administrator.Nine seats have beenleft vacant by recent board resignations.3situations vacant the part of a newspaper in which jobs are advertisedOrigin vacant (1200-1300) Old French Latin, present participle of vacare “to be empty, be free” 