A vacuum cleaner (colloquially in the UK, hoover after one of the major brands) is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from carpeted floors. Most homes with carpeted floors in developed countries possess a domestic vacuum cleaner for cleaning. The dirt is collected by a filtering system or a cyclone for later disposal.

History

The first hand-powered cleaner using vacuum principles may have been the "Whirlwind", invented in Chicago in 1865.