Definition of VAULT

vault

Plural: vaults

Noun

  • a burial chamber (usually underground)
  • a strongroom or compartment (often made of steel) for safekeeping of valuables
  • an arched brick or stone ceiling or roof
  • the act of jumping over an obstacle
  • An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.
  • Any arched ceiling or roof.
  • Anything resembling such a downward-facing concave structure, particularly the sky and caves.
  • The space covered by an arched roof, particularly underground rooms and (Christianity, obsolete) church crypts.
  • Any cellar or underground storeroom.
  • Any burial chamber, particularly those underground.
  • The secure room or rooms in or below a bank used to store currency and other valuables; similar rooms in other settings.
  • Any archive of past content.
  • An encrypted digital archive.
  • An underground or covered conduit for water or waste; a drain; a sewer.
  • An underground or covered reservoir for water or waste; a cistern; a cesspit.
  • A 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.
  • Synonym of volte: a circular movement by the horse.
  • An event or performance involving a vaulting horse.

Verb

Verb Forms: vaulted, vaulting, vaults

  • To provide with or build in the form of a vault.
  • jump across or leap over (an obstacle)
  • bound vigorously
  • To build as, or cover with a vault.
  • To remove (an item, character, etc.) from a video game in an update.
  • To jump or leap over with a hand and/or foot on the item for support.

Examples

  • Family members had been buried in the vault for centuries.
  • He tried to VAULT over his opponent’s defenses to reach the triple-word score.
  • The bank kept their money safe in a large vault.
  • The decoration of the vault of Sainte-Chapelle was much brighter before its 19th-century restoration.
  • The fugitive vaulted over the fence to escape.
  • The fugitive vaulted the fence to escape.
  • The stalactites held tightly to the cave's vault.

Origin / Etymology

From 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.

Synonyms

bank vault, burial vault, hurdle, overleap, bathroom, sepulcher, sepulchre, tomb, vaulting table, volte

Scrabble Score: 8

vault: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
vault: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
vault: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

vault: valid Words With Friends Word