What does voiding mean?
“Voiding” most often means making something legally invalid or ineffective. A court, tribunal, or legislature may speak of voiding a contract, agreement, election, or decision, thereby treating it as though it had no legal force. The word can also mean emptying or disposing of something, particularly waste, and in medical contexts it refers to excreting bodily waste, especially urine. As a noun, “voiding” denotes the act of making something void or invalid. A rare legal adjective use describes something that formally declares another matter void. The word is more formal and technical than everyday alternatives such as “cancelling” or “emptying,” and its legal sense is its dominant modern use. Its history reflects a movement from physical emptiness to legal ineffectiveness: the idea of something being “void” developed from the older sense of being empty and extended to mean lacking binding force.
To make something legally invalid or null; to empty or discharge its contents; or, in medical use, to excrete bodily waste.
"The court held that the defective notice had effectively voided the agreement."
The legal sense is formal. Medical usage, especially for the passage of urine, is technical.
The act of making something void or invalid, especially a legal agreement, contract, decision, or election.
"The court ordered the voiding of the settlement because it had been obtained through fraud."
This noun is chiefly legal and is less common than the verbal use.
Constituting or serving to make something legally void.
"The parties included a voiding clause that terminated the arrangement upon a specified event."
This attributive use is rare and chiefly legal.
The plural is rare and appears chiefly when separate instances of legally invalidating something are being counted.
"The report documented the voidings of two agreements entered into in breach of the regulations."
Voiding began with the idea of emptiness and eventually became the legal language for making an agreement powerless.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does voiding come from?
“Voiding” derives from the verb “void,” which came through Old French from Latin “vacuus,” meaning “empty” or “void.” English “void” originally applied chiefly to physical emptiness and later acquired the legal sense of being null, invalid, or without binding force. The forms “voiding” and “voided” developed from that verb, while the legal adjective use also developed from its sense of formally declaring something invalid.
Related word forms
How voiding is actually used
The verb and noun are most common in formal legal contexts, where they refer to the invalidation of a contract, agreement, election, or other legal act. Medical use of “voiding” is technical and generally concerns the passage of urine. The adjective is rare and chiefly legal.
Easily confused with voiding
Voiding means making something invalid or empty, whereas avoiding means preventing or escaping something.