vacuum cleaner

noun

: a household appliance for cleaning floors, carpets, upholstery, etc. by suction

called also vacuum sweeper

Examples of vacuum cleaner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rather than focusing on lead characters, the show is built around a collection of wooden pieces— such as cats on vacuum cleaners, flying piglets, geometric shape – which are used to tell new stories each time, much like a child reaching into a toy box. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 2 June 2025 Two huge plants in Iceland operate like giant vacuum cleaners, sucking in air and stripping out planet-heating carbon pollution. Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 30 May 2025 The absurdist fantasy comedy portrays a married couple where the wife dies of a respiratory illness caused by dust pollution, and then returns to the grieving husband as a ghost in the form of a vacuum cleaner. Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 21 May 2025 And for some Americans, sticker shock from tariffs might mean skipping a new pair of jeans or squeezing a few more months out of a wheezing vacuum cleaner. Karen Yuan, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vacuum cleaner

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of vacuum cleaner was in 1903

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vacuum cleaner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vacuum%20cleaner. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

vacuum cleaner

noun
: an electrical appliance for cleaning (as floors or rugs) by suction

More from Merriam-Webster on vacuum cleaner

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