/vɒlt/, /vɔːlt/, /vɑlt/
OriginFrom Middle English vaute, vowte, from Old French volte (modern voûte), from Vulgar Latin *volta < *volvita or *volŭta, a regularization of Latin volūta (compare modern volute (“spire”)), the past participle of volvere (“roll, turn”). Cognate with Spanish vuelta (“turn”) and Portuguese volta ("turn"). Doublet of volute.
- An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.
“The decoration of the vault of Sainte-Chapelle was much brighter before its 19th-century restoration.”
“the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault”
- Any arched ceiling or roof.
- figurativelyAnything resembling such a downward-facing concave structure, particularly the sky and caves.
“The stalactites held tightly to the cave's vault.”
“His fiery eies are fixt vpon the earth.
As if he now deuiſ’d some Stratageme:
Or meant to pierce Auernus darkſome vauts.
To pull the triple headed dog from hell.”
“Had I your tongues and eyes, Il’d vſe them so,
That Heauens vault ſhould crack: ſhe’s gone for euer.”
- The space covered by an arched roof, particularly underground rooms and (Christianity, obsolete) church crypts.
- Any cellar or underground storeroom.
“to banish rats that haunt our vault”
- Any burial chamber, particularly those underground.
“Holonyms: catacomb, cuniculus”
“Near-synonyms: crypt, mausoleum”
“Family members had been buried in the vault for centuries.”
- The secure room or rooms in or below a bank used to store currency and other valuables; similar rooms in other settings.
“The bank kept their money safe in a large vault.”
- figuratively, oftenAny archive of past content.
- An encrypted digital archive.
- obsoleteAn underground or covered conduit for water or waste; a drain; a sewer.
- obsoleteAn underground or covered reservoir for water or waste; a cistern; a cesspit.
- euphemistic, obsoleteA room employing a cesspit or sewer: an outhouse; a lavatory.
- An act of vaulting, formerly (chiefly) by deer; a leap or jump.
- A piece of apparatus used for performing jumps.
- A gymnastic movement performed on this apparatus.
“Each vault has three segments: “preflight” (the movement from the springboard onto the table), “block” (the moment the hands touch and leave the table) and “postflight” (the flips and twists before la”
- Synonym of volte: a circular movement by the horse.
- An event or performance involving a vaulting horse.
- transitiveTo build as, or cover with a vault.
“The shady arch that vaulted the broad green alley.”
- transitiveTo store in a vault.
- To remove (an item, character, etc.) from a video game in an update.
“In future updates, most likely in season six, more items will get vaulted.”
“While vaulting some old content may turn off a few players, Bungie seems intent on bringing as many players under its tent as possible first.”
“Blizzard will vault the gorgeous Hanamura and other Assault maps from Overwatch's competitive mode when 'Overwatch 2' arrives.”
- ambitransitiveTo jump or leap over with a hand and/or foot on the item for support.
“The fugitive vaulted over the fence to escape.”
“The fugitive vaulted the fence to escape.”
Formsvaults(plural) · vaults(present, singular, third-person) · vaulting(participle, present) · vaulted(participle, past) · vaulted(past)