vault
    n 1: a burial chamber (usually underground) [syn: vault,
         burial vault]
    2: a strongroom or compartment (often made of steel) for
       safekeeping of valuables [syn: vault, bank vault]
    3: an arched brick or stone ceiling or roof
    4: the act of jumping over an obstacle [syn: vault, hurdle]
    v 1: jump across or leap over (an obstacle) [syn: vault,
         overleap]
    2: bound vigorously

Vault \Vault\, v. i. [Cf. OF. volter, F. voltiger, It. voltare
   to turn. See Vault, n., 4.]
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   1. To leap; to bound; to jump; to spring.
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            Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself. --Shak.
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            Leaning on his lance, he vaulted on a tree.
                                                  --Dryden.
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            Lucan vaulted upon Pegasus with all the heat and
            intrepidity of youth.                 --Addison.
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   2. To exhibit feats of tumbling or leaping; to tumble.
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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.]
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   1. (Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling
      or canopy.
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            The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. --Gray.
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   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.
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            The silent vaults of death.           --Sandys.
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            To banish rats that haunt our vault.  --Swift.
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   3. The canopy of heaven; the sky.
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            That heaven's vault should crack.     --Shak.
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   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.
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   Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in
         pronunciation.
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   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.
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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.]
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   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.
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            The shady arch that vaulted the broad green alley.
                                                  --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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   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.
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            I will vault credit, and affect high pleasures.
                                                  --Webster
                                                  (1623).
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