Illustration of vault
- vault 1a
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
vaulted; vaulting; vaults
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
: to leap over
especially
: to leap over by or as if by aid of the hands or a pole
Synonyms
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
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
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
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.
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.
Copy CitationKids Definition
vault
1 of 3 noun1
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
vault
noun
: an arched or dome-shaped anatomical structure: as
b
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