Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Appliance \Ap*pli"ance\, n.
The act of applying; application.
subservience; compliance. [Obs.]
--Shak.A thing applied or used as a means to an end; an apparatus or device; as, to use various appliances; a mechanical appliance; a machine with its appliances.
Specifically: An apparatus or device, usually powered electrically, used in homes to perform domestic functions. An appliance is often categorized as a major appliance or a minor appliance by its cost. Common major appliances are the refrigerator, washing machine, clothes drier, oven, and dishwasher. Some minor appliances are a toaster, vacuum cleaner or microwave oven.
Wiktionary
n. A domestic or industrial mobile machine for cleaning floors and similar surfaces that draws dust and other particles into a container (a cyclonic type bin, or a filter bag) by the suction created by an electric motor driving a fan.
WordNet
n. an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction [syn: vacuum]
Wikipedia
A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses an air pump (a centrifugal fan in all but some of the very oldest models), to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and from other surfaces such as upholstery and draperies.
The dirt is collected by either a dustbag or a cyclone for later disposal. Vacuum cleaners, which are used in homes as well as in industry, exist in a variety of sizes and models—small battery-powered hand-held devices, wheeled canister models for home use, domestic central vacuum cleaners, huge stationary industrial appliances that can handle several hundred litres of dust before being emptied, and self-propelled vacuum trucks for recovery of large spills or removal of contaminated soil. Specialized shop vacuums can be used to suck up both dust and liquids.
Usage examples of "vacuum cleaner".
He got the vacuum cleaner out of its closet and steered it through the dining room, the living room, down the hall to the back bedroom.
Holding a deactivation tool out in front of him like a pistol, Rufus Chews confronted the vacuum cleaner while his similarly armed wife tried to work her way around behind the desk.
Because she'd taken it upon herself to call the office and request a demonstration by their best vacuum cleaner salesman.
As I went through that room with all her nice old things in it, I thought about all the times I'd played that trick with the vacuum cleaner on her, and how she'd got back at me for awhile.
The next thing I knew my face was pressed against the hood of a vacuum cleaner and I was lying in a puddle of urine.
She returned pushing a vacuum cleaner, its power card trailing behind her into the front hall.