vault

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: burial vaultbank vaulthurdleoverleap

WordNet 3.0

Noun (4)

  1. a burial chamber (usually underground)Synonyms: burial vault
  2. a strongroom or compartment (often made of steel) for safekeeping of valuablesSynonyms: bank vault
  3. an arched brick or stone ceiling or roof
  4. the act of jumping over an obstacleSynonyms: hurdle

Verb (2)

  1. jump across or leap over (an obstacle)Synonyms: overleap
  2. bound vigorously
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Vault \Vault\, v. i. [Cf. OF. volter, F. voltiger, It. voltare to turn. See Vault, n., 4.] [1913 Webster]

1.To leap; to bound; to jump; to spring. [1913 Webster]

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Leaning on his lance, he vaulted on a tree.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
Lucan vaulted upon Pegasus with all the heat and intrepidity of youth.— Addison.[1913 Webster]

2.To exhibit feats of tumbling or leaping; to tumble. [1913 Webster]

Vault \Vault\ (v[add]lt; see Note, below), n. [OE. voute, OF. voute, volte, F. vo[^u]te, LL. volta, for voluta, volutio, fr. L. volvere, volutum, to roll, to turn about. See Voluble, and cf. Vault a leap, Volt a turn, Volute.] [1913 Webster]

1.(Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy. [1913 Webster]

The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault.— Gray.[1913 Webster]

2.An arched apartment; especially, a subterranean room, used for storing articles, for a prison, for interment, or the like; a cell; a cellar. "Charnel vaults." --Milton. [1913 Webster]

The silent vaults of death.— Sandys.[1913 Webster]
To banish rats that haunt our vault.— Swift.[1913 Webster]

3.The canopy of heaven; the sky. [1913 Webster]

That heaven's vault should crack.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

4.[F. volte, It. volta, originally, a turn, and the same word as volta an arch. See the Etymology above.] A leap or bound. Specifically: (a) (Man.) The bound or leap of a horse; a curvet. (b) A leap by aid of the hands, or of a pole, springboard, or the like. [1913 Webster]

Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in pronunciation. [1913 Webster]

Barrel vault, Cradle vault, Cylindrical vault, or Wagon vault (Arch.), a kind of vault having two parallel abutments, and the same section or profile at all points. It may be rampant, as over a staircase (see Rampant vault, under Rampant), or curved in plan, as around the apse of a church.

Coved vault. (Arch.) See under 1st Cove, v. t.

Groined vault (Arch.), a vault having groins, that is, one in which different cylindrical surfaces intersect one another, as distinguished from a barrel, or wagon, vault.

Rampant vault. (Arch.) See under Rampant.

Ribbed vault (Arch.), a vault differing from others in having solid ribs which bear the weight of the vaulted surface. True Gothic vaults are of this character.

Vault light, a partly glazed plate inserted in a pavement or ceiling to admit light to a vault below. [1913 Webster]

Vault \Vault\ (v[add]lt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Vaulted; p. pr. & vb. n. Vaulting.] [OE. vouten, OF. volter, vouter, F. vo[^u]ter. See Vault an arch.] [1913 Webster]

1.To form with a vault, or to cover with a vault; to give the shape of an arch to; to arch; as, to vault a roof; to vault a passage to a court. [1913 Webster]

The shady arch that vaulted the broad green alley.— Sir W. Scott.[1913 Webster]

2.[See Vault, v. i.] To leap over; esp., to leap over by aid of the hands or a pole; as, to vault a fence. [1913 Webster]

I will vault credit, and affect high pleasures.— Webster (1623).[1913 Webster]
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