how to say “to empty” in Hebrew
לְרוֹקֵן
Perhaps you know the Hebrew word for empty – רֵיק (rek or REH-eek). For example, הַבַּיִת רֵיק – the house is empty (hah-BAH-yeet rek).
Likewise, emptiness or vanity is רִיק (reek), used in Modern Hebrew to replace the foreign word for vacuum – וָקוּם (VAH-koom).
The word for to empty something, however, is a more recent addition to the language: לְרוֹקֵן (leh-roh-KEHN). For example, רוֹקַנְתִּי אֶת הַמַּקְפִּיא כְּדֵי לְהַפְשִׁיר אוֹתו – I emptied the freezer in order to defrost it (roh-KAHN-tee et hah-mahk-PEE keh-DEH-ee leh-hahf-SHEER oh-TOH).
This verb behaves most like the active-intensive פיעל (pee-EL) verb form.
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