vault

1 of 4

noun (1)

1
a
: an arched structure of masonry usually forming a ceiling or roof
b
: something (such as the sky) resembling a vault
c
: an arched or dome-shaped anatomical structure
the cranial vault
2
a
: a space covered by an arched structure
especially : an underground passage or room
b
: an underground storage compartment
c
: a room or compartment for the safekeeping of valuables
3
a
: a burial chamber
b
: a prefabricated container usually of metal or concrete into which a casket is placed at burial
vaulty adjective

Illustration of vault

Illustration of vault
  • vault 1a

vault

2 of 4

verb (1)

vaulted; vaulting; vaults

transitive verb

: to form or cover with or as if with a vault : arch

vault

3 of 4

verb (2)

vaulted; vaulting; vaults

intransitive verb

1
: to leap vigorously
especially : to execute a leap using the hands or a pole
2
: to do or achieve something as if by a leap
vaulted to sudden prominence

transitive verb

: to leap over
especially : to leap over by or as if by aid of the hands or a pole

vault

4 of 4

noun (2)

: an act of vaulting : leap

Examples of vault in a Sentence

Noun (1) archaeologists were thrilled to discover an ancient vault that hadn't been looted by grave robbers Verb (2) vaulted over the obstacle with ease Noun (2) a vault over the car's hood by the frightened deer
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The vaults are essentially access points throughout the length of the pipe system. Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2024 Disney and Amazon in particular dug deep into their vaults for new projects. Joe Otterson, Variety, 22 May 2024 Lee, meanwhile, completed three events — vault, beam and floor. Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 19 May 2024 Monarch’s Tyler Rowan defended his 5A pole vault crown with relative ease, setting a new personal record with a vault of 16 feet, 9 inches on Thursday. Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 16 May 2024 The ape kingdom is built around a silo, with a closed vault of a door, that contains many wonders within (like weapons). Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 May 2024 Downstairs, a grand room opens to a covered outdoor patio, level lawn and gardens below, perfect for indoor-outdoor entertaining — plus the custom wine vault levels up the style factor. Bang Advertising Staff and Correspondents, The Mercury News, 3 May 2024 Emilia Photo: Paul Secker Photo: Paul Secker Steam fogs the windows at one-room Emilia, which has an open kitchen serving Northern Italian dishes, chalked on the door of an old vault (the building used to be a bank). Jo Rodgers, Vogue, 3 May 2024 Apple’s and Google’s password vaults already support passkeys, and so do password managers like 1Password and Dashlane. Tom Warren, The Verge, 2 May 2024
Verb
After two regular season ending shutouts of Fort Worth Christian -- 1-0 and 4-0 -- before the playoffs began, a pair of scoreless wins vaulted the Eagles from Southwest Christian into the state tourney. Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2024 The Mojo won three in five days last week, vaulting from No. 4 to No. 3 in the standings and securing a more favorable playoff draw. U-T News Services, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2024 Fleabag creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge is vaulting, shimmying, and exploring her way from Indiana Jones to the realm of Lara Croft as the writer and executive producer of a new live-action Tomb Raider TV series at Amazon Prime Video. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 14 May 2024 The victory also vaulted Heim into first place in the trucks standings, seven points ahead of Eckes. Randy Covitz, Kansas City Star, 5 May 2024 Can these early wins vault the Bruins to success in their inaugural Big Ten season? Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024 The 2,420 square feet of living space here includes a covered patio, vaulted beamed great room, and a 3-car front side entry garage. Weichert Realtors® Welch & Company/chapel Hill, Kansas City Star, 28 Apr. 2024 The university, known as KAUST, is central to Saudi Arabia’s plans to vault to A.I. leadership. Paul Mozur, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2024 Since losing back-to-back games against the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors in the middle of March, the Lakers have since won eight of their last nine to vault into playoff contention. Matias Grez, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vault.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English vaute, voute, borrowed from Anglo-French voute, volte, going back to Vulgar Latin *volvita "turn, arched structure," noun derivative from feminine of *volvitus, re-formation of Latin volūtus, past participle of volvere "to travel (a circular course), bring round, roll" — more at wallow entry 1

Verb (1)

Middle English vowten, borrowed from Anglo-French vouter, verbal derivative of voute vault entry 1

Verb (2)

probably borrowed from Middle French vouster "to turn about (on horseback), wheel, prance," going back to Vulgar Latin *volvitāre, frequentative of Latin volvere "to travel (a circular course), bring round, roll" — more at wallow entry 1

Noun (2)

noun derivative of vault entry 3

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

1538, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

1576, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of vault was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near vault

Cite this Entry

“Vault.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vault. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

vault

1 of 3 noun
1
a
: an arched structure of stone or concrete forming a ceiling or roof
b
: an arch or dome suggesting a vault
the vault of the sky
2
: a room or compartment for storage or safekeeping
a bank vault
3
: a burial chamber

vault

2 of 3 verb
: to leap or leap over with the aid of the hands or a pole
vaulter noun

vault

3 of 3 noun
: an act of vaulting : leap

Medical Definition

: an arched or dome-shaped anatomical structure: as
a
: skullcap, calvarium
the cranial vault

More from Merriam-Webster on vault

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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