null

Meanings

1. 1adjectiveafter a verblegal

   Having no legal effect, so that something is treated as if it never existed.

   Grammar: Usually after a verb: the contract was declared null; common in the phrase null and void.

   Patterns

   • null and void
   • declare something null

   The judge ruled the agreement null because one party was a minor.

   Once the deadline passed, the offer became null.

   The election result was declared null and void.

2. 2adjectivebefore a nouncomputing

   In computing, describing a value that means no data is present, which is different from zero.

   Grammar: Often before a noun or after is: a null value; the field is null.

   Patterns

   • a null value
   • a null pointer

   The program crashed because the variable was null.

   A null entry in the database means the age is unknown.

   You must check for a null value before reading the field.

3. 3adjectivebefore a nounmathematics

   In mathematics and science, equal to zero or having no size, or giving no result.

   Grammar: Used in fixed terms: null set, null hypothesis.

   Patterns

   • the null set
   • the null hypothesis

   The null set contains no elements at all.

   The study failed to reject the null hypothesis.

   The test produced a null result.

4. 4adjectivecomparableformalliterary

   Without worth, character or meaning; empty.

   Grammar: Uncommon and formal; describes things that have no force or expression.

   His null expression gave away nothing.

   Without any funding, the plan was null.

   She gave a null reply that satisfied no one.

Common combinations

null and void

The court declared the contract null and void.

null value

A null value means the data is missing.

null hypothesis

The researchers tested the null hypothesis.

null set

A null set has no members.

render something null

A single error can render the form null.

Synonyms and how they differ

void

Void is a close legal synonym, and in law null and void together make a strong fixed pairing.

invalid

Invalid is a broad word for not accepted or not working, while null stresses having no legal force at all.

empty

Empty describes a lack of contents, while null in computing means a deliberate absence of a value.

worthless

Worthless means without value, while null refers to having no force or no value assigned.

Opposites

Word family

nullify verb

to make something lose its legal or practical force

nullity noun

the state of having no legal force

annul verb

to officially cancel something such as a marriage or contract

nullification noun

the act of making something null

Commonly confused: null or nil? null or zero?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “null”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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