Vac

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A machine that sucks up dust and debris from floors and other surfaces using suction
2. An electrical appliance that removes dirt from carpets and hard floors by drawing air through a filter
3. A household device powered by suction that cleans surfaces by extracting particles and dust from them

Etymology: Vac is a clipping, a shortened form of longer words rather than a word with its own separate history. It mainly stands in for "vacation", the long break at a university or school, and for "vacuum", as in "vacuum cleaner", which is often cut down to "vac" in everyday speech. The two longer words come from Latin roots meaning empty or free. "Vacuum" comes from "vacuus", meaning empty, while "vacation" comes from "vacare", meaning to be empty or free, so a holiday and a cleaning appliance both trace back to the idea of emptiness.

Synonyms: vacuum