| 释义 |
▪ I. vault, n.1|vɔːlt|
Forms: α. 4–6 voute (5 woute), 4–6 (9 Sc.) vout (5 wout); 5–6 vowte (5 wowte), 5 (9 Sc.) vowt; 5 voghte (woȝte), 6 vowght, vought. β. 5 (6 Sc.) woult, 6 voulte, voult; 5–7 volt (5 Sc. volut), 5–6 wolte, Sc. wolt. γ. 4 vavte, 4–7 vawte, 5–6 vaute; 4–7 vaut (5 vavtt), vawt, 6 vaught, vawght. δ. 6 valte, vaulte, valt, 6– vault.
[a. OF. voute, voulte, volte, vaulte, vaute (mod.F. voûte), = Prov. volta, vouta, vota, It. and Pg. volta:—pop.L. *volta, ppl. n. f. L. volvĕre to turn. Cf. volt n.
It is not clear at what date the l finally established itself in the standard pronunciation of this word and n.2, together with the related verbs, etc. As in the case of fault, there is some tendency towards the use of a short vowel |vɒlt| in all the forms.]
1. A structure of stones or bricks so combined as to support each other over a space and serve as a roof or covering to this; an arched surface covering some space or area in the interior of a building, and usually supported by walls or pillars; an arched roof or ceiling.
The two chief varieties are the barrel vault or cylindric(al) vault and the groined vault.
α1387Charters of Edinb. (1871) 35 The voute abovyn Sant Stevinys auter. 1424E.E. Wills (1882) 58 Þe voute of Okeham stepil. c1440Alph. Tales 454 In a were tyme þai war sett aboue a vowte in þe kurk. 1491Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 181 To the massonis of the Palis, in drink⁓siluer for the pendin of three voutis, iij vnicornis. 1535Coverdale 2 Esdras xvi. 59 He spredeth out the heauen like a vowte. 1539–40in Devon N. & Q. (1903) Oct. 238 Hewyng of tymber for the lytell chamber vought att Powderham. 1595Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Camera, a vowte. 1828Moir Mansie Wauch x. 89 Feint a hair cared he about auld kirks, or kirkyards, or vouts, or through⁓stanes. 1901Trotter Galloway Gossip 239 He..cam on a vowt biggit wi' stane an lime.
βc1400Sc. Trojan War ii. 2434 It had vnder erd but weir Standand woltis & cavis seir. 1513Douglas æneid ix. viii. 114 Sa sairly knyt that maner embuchement Semyt to be a clos volt quhar thai went. 1538Leland Itin. (1769) I. 18 The riche Cardinal of Winchester gildid all the Floures and Knottes in the Voulte of the Chirch. 1563Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 247 The wallis..ar revin, and the volt thair⁓throw partit, neir hand the ane side from the uther.
γ13..K. Alis. 7197 (Laud MS.), Þe toures maken, & þe torels, Vavtes, Alures, & þe kirnels. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 81 Vawtes of stoonwerk wonderliche i-wrouȝt. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxviii. 581 See you yonder vawte by the grete hous? 1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 476 Enuawtyd with rubies the vawte was of this place. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xvi. 50 b, There are conduit pypes.., supported some by vautes, and othersom by..pillars. 1609Bible (Douay) 1 Kings vii. 3 He decked the whole vaut with bordes of ceder. c1640J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) II. 66 The walls, vautes,..and windows they razed and teare a down.
δ1545Elyot, Arcus,..the vault of a roufe. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 114 b, They set a young man..above over the vaulte of the churche. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xxiv. 65 The arcenal..hath neare an hundreth arches or vaultes to builde and hale the gallies vnder couer and drye. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. xiii. 112 With a slender covering of mats or straw, they are better preserved from the heate, than in Spaine vnder a roofe of wood, or a vault of stone. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 271, I did intend here to have added something about the Arching of Vaults, but..shall..omit speaking of Vaults in this Exercise. 1750Gray Elegy 39 The long-drawn isle and fretted vault. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 42 The vault of the king's own chapel at St. James. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xx, The shadow of the ribbed and darksome vault, with which veneration..had canopied its source. 1840Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) I. 506 In groined vaults the arches which cross each other do not always correspond in width.
b. transf. An arching roof or covering resembling a structure of this kind.
a1470Tiptoft Caesar xii. (1530) 14, vii Legions made in a maner a vaut to hyde them. 1601Holland Pliny II. 405 A man shall see the drops of water become stone, as they hang to the very vaults of the rocke. 1706Addison Rosamond ii. iv, At length the bowery vaults appear! 1773Cook's Voy. i. xvi. (Hawksworth) II. 172 They frequently passed under vaults, formed by fragments of the rock. 1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 557 The net is tightened.., and forms a grand vault over the whole cherry garden. 1872Ruskin Eagle's Nest §137 The coloured segments of globe out of which foam is constituted, are portions of spherical vaults constructed of fluent particles. 1877Bryant Little People of Snow 151 And now the white walls widened, and the vault Swelled upward, like some vast cathedral dome.
c. The apparent concave surface formed by the sky. Chiefly poet. and usually with defining terms.
a1586Sidney Ps. xix. vii, His [the sun's] race is ev'n, from endes of heav'n, About that vault he goeth. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 1229 From whence he vewes..Whatso the heauen in his wide vawte containes. 1605Shakes. Lear v. iii. 259 Had I your tongues and eyes, Il'd vse them so, That Heauens vault should crack. 1656Cowley Pindar. Odes, Nemean Ode ii, Through earth, and ayr, and Seas, and up to th' heavenly Vault. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. i. vi. 5 This Vault of Air, this congregated Ball, Self-center'd Sun, and Stars that rise and fall. 1781Cowper Hope 79 When evening turns the blue vault grey. 1840Lardner Geom. 215 The intersection of the plane of the water with the hemispherical celestial vault. 1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 229 The vault of the nocturnal sky. 1874Sayce Compar. Philol. viii. 331 The bright vault of heaven.
d. Anat. One or other of certain concave structures or surfaces normally facing downwards.
1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. II. 150 Vessels and instruments, which serue the brayne,..amongest the which there is..another called a vault, both in respect of the fashion and of the vse. 1831R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 95 This vault is formed by the nasal bones and the nasal processes of the maxillary bones. Ibid. 423 The posterior lobes and the vault of the hemispheres of the cerebrum. 1849H. Miller Footpr. Creat. iv. (1874) 45 The upper and middle portions of the cranial vault. 1875Encycl. Brit. I. 812/2 He..distinguishes the posterior pillars of the vault from the pedes hippocampi.
2. An enclosed space covered with an arched roof; esp. a lower or underground apartment or portion of a building constructed in this form.
α, β1396–7Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 600 Pro cariac[ione] vjxx lad. petr[arum]..pro le vout. 14..Dorothe 101 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 192 Sche scholde not scape so sone, he thowȝt; He put here in prison in a voghte. c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. 1195 Alle the preson, whiche had vowtes seuene, Was light that tyme right of his presens. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 404 The buyldynge of olde antiquite In cellers and lowe voultes, and halles of realte. 1554–5Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. X. 268 To ressave voultis fra the monkes to put in lyme. 1558Ibid. 432 For carying of the foirsaid furnesing..to ane wolt. 1616Extr. Aberd. Rec. (1898) II. 339 To mack ane hewin doir in the mid wall, betuixt the northmest voult and the southermest voult.
γ1422Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 153 He commaundid to kepe his chylde..and that hit were Enclosid in a vaut of stone. 1470–85Malory Arthur Pref. 2 The grete stones & meruaylous werkys of yron lyeng vnder the grounde & ryal vautes. 1503Hawes Examp. Virt. xiii. 276 Than went we doune to an other vaute. 1534in Archæol. Cant. VII. 286 In the Vawt where the Moncks do dyne. j olde table [etc.]. 1584Star Chamber Decrees Print. & Stat. (1863) 11 That no presse be used in vaut or secret place, but such as may easily and openly be found in search. 1602Campion Bk. Airs Wks. (Bullen) 21 That man needs neither towers..Nor secret vauts to fly From thunder's violence.
fig.1545Bale Image Both Ch. i. xvii. R viij b, So throwing them selues into a moste confuse Chaos or vawte of double dotage.
δ1603G. Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 77 These vaultes are alltogether neclected. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 84 They make their little Vaults very quickly, and in building of them use Timber as with us. 1698J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 117 In Vaults and Caves there is no sensible alteration of heat in Summer and Winter. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxvi, From the steps they proceeded through a passage adjoining the vaults. 1836Emerson Nature Wks. (Bohn) II. 151 A paper currency is employed, when there is no bullion in the vaults. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xi. 113 The thermometer inside was at + 90°, and the vault [= hut] measured fifteen feet by six.
b. A place of this kind used as a cellar or storeroom for provisions or liquors.
1500in J. Latimer Merch. Vent. Bristol (1903) 34 In his mansion or shop or in celers or vawts yt he holdeth..in fee. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 42 In our dayes we vse to keepe both Wine and Grayne in suche vaultes. 1600Nashe Summers Last Will 1188 Bacchus, for thou abusest so earths fruits, Impris'ned liue in cellars and in vawtes. 1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 45 Most of them three Stories high, with very noble Lodgings, Store-Houses, Vaults and Stables belonging to them. 1699Pomfret Poems, The Choice, I'd have a little Vault, but always stor'd With the best Wines each Vintage could afford. 1730Swift Panegyrick on Dean Wks. 1751 IV. i. 136 When to the vault you walk in state, In quality of butler's mate. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 120 Among other cellars, there is one which perhaps has not its equal... This vault communicates with another. 1880M. E. Braddon Just as I am xxxvi, The wine cellar at the Homestead was not a stately vault.
fig.1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 101 The Wine of Life is drawne, and the meere Lees Is left this Vault, to brag of.
3.
†a. An arched space under the floor of a church, used for ecclesiastical purposes; a crypt.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 61 Vnder þe kirk also es a vowte, whare Cristen men dwellez. a1490Botoner Itin. (1778) 176 The second way goth rygh est by the woult of Seynt Johnys chyrch. 1503–4Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 252 Payd for a stay bar of yerryn to stay the Nev pevys [= pews] in to þe vavtt. 1511Guylforde's Pilgr. (Camden) 31 A very fayre churche,..wherein we descendyd into a wonder fayre vaught.
b. A burial chamber (originally with arched roof), usually altogether or partly under ground.
a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 223 After he was remoued to Winsore and there in a new vawte newly intumilate. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 86 Here lies Iuliet, and her beautie makes This Vault a feasting presence full of light. 1606W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall x, For some there was that to the imitation of Abraham, made vp little caues or voltes, for buriall vse. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 379 Hee purposed..that his bones should bee bestowed in an arched vault made under the chancell of Saint Peters Church in Oxford. 1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6084/7 The Body was deposited in the Vault. 1749in Nairne Peerage Evidence (1874) 81 Mrs. Jean Mercer..lyes..opposite to the Duke of Roxburghs vault. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 172 In as few years their successors will go to the family vault of ‘all the Capulets’. 1832W. Irving Alhambra I. 187 ‘Now,’ said the priest, ‘you must help me to bring forth the bodies that are to be buried in this vault’. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 37/1 A vault cannot properly be made either in the church or churchyard, without the consent of the ordinary. Ibid., A vault may be attached by prescription to a mansion. 1870F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 61 The vaults beneath the Chancel, sometimes called the dead-house.
†4.
a. A covered conduit for carrying away water or filth; a drain or sewer. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 1607 The water..Gosshet through Godardys & other grete vautes, And clensit by course all þe clene Cite. 1533MS. Rawl. D. 776 lf. 131 b, Makyng of new vawtis of bryk to Conevaye the water Commyng frome the leades of the said Castell vnder the said new wharff. 1567in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. ii. 154 The gouernors..shall viewe the comen sewer or vawt at the seid house. 1596Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 53 A goodly Jakes within the town with a vault to conevey all filth into the Tiber. a1700Evelyn Diary 8 Feb. 1645, The streetes..having many vaults and conveyances under them for the sullage.
†b. A cistern. Obs.—1
1552Huloet, Vault or place to receaue rayne water, impluuium.
†c. A necessary-house; a privy. Obs.
1617J. Taylor (Water P.) Trav. Lond. to Hamburgh Wks. (1630) 80/2 The Hangman..hath the emptying of all the vaults or draughts in the city. 1665Orders Ld. Mayor Lond. in De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 64 That no Nightman..be suffered to empty a Vault into any Garden. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Vault, an..House of Office.
5. A natural cavern, cave, or overarched space; † a deep hole or pit.
1535Coverdale Isaiah vii. 19 These shall come, and shal light all in the valeyes, in y⊇ vowtes of stone. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1413/2 The hole or vaut being sometimes filled with water, and otherwhiles neither bottome, trees, or water maie be perceiued. 1593Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 40 A holl or deepe vaute in the grounde wherinto the sea floweth at high water verie farr under the earth. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 11 This City is of a round forme, compassed of all sides with Mountaines, having many Vauts or Caves under it. 1691Ray Creation i. (1692) 127 Some should digg Vaults and Holes in the Earth, as Rabbets, to secure themselves and their Young. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 274 In the burning entrails of which..the fire-consumed ætnean vaults incessantly thunder. 1854Brewster More Worlds iii. 61 It is from the deep vaults to which primæval life has been consigned that the history of the dawn of life is to be composed. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. v. 38 The vault at the end of the glacier.
transf.1578Banister Hist. Man i. 29 Moreouer in the interiour part of the wrest, we finde a broad, and deepe cauitie,..through the which are concurrent, not a small number of tendons of Muscles, to be inserted to the ioyntes of the fingers. And in this vawte, or hollow, they seeme as it were included, or locked up.
†b. to go to the vault: (see quot.). Obs.
1576Turberv. Venerie 165, I haue seene [hares] that woulde take the ground like a Coney (whiche is called goyng to the vault) when they haue beene hunted.
6. techn. The inner portion of a steel furnace.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 341 Inside the conical building is a smaller furnace, called the vault, built of fire⁓brick or stone... D D, in the section, is the dome of the vault. 1884W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 409 The temperature in each furnace is regulated by closing or opening the small flues in the arch of the vault.
7. attrib. and Comb., as vault beam, vault-cover, vault door, vault fashion, vault height, vault-like adj., vault pier, etc.
1611Bible 1 Kings vi. 9 marg., [He covered] the *vault beams and the sielings with Cedar.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2694/1 A *vault-cover with glass bull's-eyes or prisms.
1553–4Extr. Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1871) II. 345 Ane greit loke to the *wolt dure of Sanct Thomas ile.
1552Huloet, Vaultyng or makyng a worke..*vault fascion, concameratio.
1616Extr. Aberd. Rec. (1848) II. 338 The said Thomas..sall big the same of the breidth of the haill tolbuith quhill it be *voult hight.
1847Dickens Haunted M. i, His dwelling was so solitary and *vault-like. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 50 Whenever we emerged into the vault-like streets.
1905F. Bond Gothic Architecture 58 Nowhere is the result plainer than in the construction of the Gothic *vault pier.
c1630Donne Serm. cli. Wks. 1839 VI. 73 These particular Spirits in their *Vault-prayers and Cellar-service shake the pillars of State and Church.
1887Browning Parleyings Wks. 1907 XVI. 113 *Vault⁓roof reverberates, groans the ground!
1843Tizard Brewing 469 The brewer..who possesses storage, cellarage, or *vault-room.
1890C. H. Moore Gothic Archit. ii. 52 Arches which..sustain the *vault shells.
1480Caxton Trevisa's Higden i. xlviii. (1527) 47 A thre chambred hous made of *vawte stones. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., The several Voussoirs, or Vault-stones whereof it [an arch] consists. 1900H. Sutcliffe Shameless Wayne ii, The..vault-stone stared blue and cold at the cold moon.
a1610G. Babington Wks. (1622) II. 35 That late thrice-damnable Powder-Treason, or *Vault-Treason; what name might it haue answerable to the iniquitie of it?
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xxi. 58 [A] building round & strongly set vp *vawtwise in form of the Hemispherike. 1611Cotgr., Retombe,..a flat vault, or a roome thats made vault-wise. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 67 Their Cabans, or Huts, which are covered vault-wise, are built half underground. 1844Blackw. Mag. LVI. 208 Every brilliant pair finished..was briskly strung up on cobwebs, with which the cart, vaultwise, was interwoven.
1614Purchas Pilgrimage vi. v. 584 This Temple was borne vp with *Vault-worke. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 35/2 Pit-sand..they use..in Vault-work, but not in plaistering.
▪ II. vault, n.2|vɔːlt|
Also 6 vaute.
[f. vault v.2, or, in sense 2, ad. F. volte.]
1. An act of vaulting; a leap or spring; † spec. of harts (see quot. 1576).
1576Turberv. Venerie 45 It is a pleasure, to beholde them when they goe to Rutte and make their vaute. 1610G. Fletcher Christ's Tri. i. xl, So on a wither'd tree he fairly set him, And helpt him fit the rope,..So thear he stands, readie to hell to make his vault. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Navy Land Ships Wks. i. 93/1 What Necromanticke spells are Rut, Vault, Slot, Pores, and Entryes, Abatures, and Foyles. 1728Chambers Cycl., Vault is also used for the Manages practis'd on the wooden Horse, to learn to mount and unmount with Ease and Expedition. 1868W. R. Smith in Life (1912) iii. 94 A popular exercise is the spring vault. 1893Outing XXII. 153/2 The world's record in the fence vault, and..the pole vault. 1901Westm. Gaz. 28 May 2/1 M. Brocas fell to the ground, after his vault.
†2. = volte (in the manege). Obs.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., There are some Vaults wherein the Horse makes two parallel Circles.
▪ III. vault, v.1|vɔːlt|
Forms: α. 4 Sc., 5 voute (4 Sc. wout-); 4, 6 vowte (5 vowytn), 6 vought, 7 Sc. wowt; 6 volt, 6, 7 Sc., voult. β. 5–6 vawte (5 vawth-), 5–7 vaut(e, 6 vaught. γ. 6 vaulten, vaulte, valte, 6– vault.
[ad. OF. vouter, voulter, volter, vaulter (mod.F. voûter), f. voute, etc., vault n.1]
1. trans. To construct with, to cover in with, a vault or arched roof. Also with over.
α1387Charters Edinb. (1871) 35 The forsaidys..sal mak and voute v. chapellis on the south syde of the paryce kyrc of Edynburgh. 1535Coverdale Ps. ciii. 3 Thou voltest it aboue with waters. 1616Extr. Aberd. Rec. (1848) II. 338 The said Thomas..sall voult ouer the nethermest voultis the hight of the tolbuith fluir. a1656R. Gordon Contin. Hist. Earls Sutherl. (1813) 509 The Earl..finished the great tour the same yeir, wowting it to the top.
β1511–2in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 478 They can..vawte the chirch..after the fourme of a platte ther⁓for devised. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 42 b, They doo vaute the floore with Bryckes. 1577Holinshed Chron. II. 1714/1 Sir William Chester..and John Calthrop..couered and vauted the towne ditch from Aldersgate to Newgate.
γ1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis i. v. 12 The first builders of this house vaulted under the ground a secret way unknowne to any but my selfe. 1650Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 303 The Concavity of Trees hung in the aire, hath taught our Architects to vault buildings. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 73/2 What-ever sort of Arch you vault your Bridge with. 1829Bowles Days Departed 8 Ask of the Geologist How Nature, vaulting the rude chamber, scoop'd Its vast recesses. 1848G. S. Hillard in Life Longf. (1891) II. 111 But to combine them all, to vault them with such a sky,..this is not easy. 1894Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 104 The various attempts made to vault the naves.
b. In pa. pple. used predicatively. (Cf. vaulted ppl. a.)
α1387Charters Edinb. (1871) 35 The fyfte chapel woutyt with a durre. c1400Mandeville (1839) iii. 17 And undre theise Stages ben Stables wel y-vowted for the Emperours Hors. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 689 Fresche alures with lusty hiȝe pynacles,..Vowted aboue like reclinatories. 1511Guylforde's Pilgr. (Camden) 26 There is a fayre large Chapell, well voughted and lyghted by many lampes brennynge. 1538Leland Itin. (1769) II. 53 A right fair and costely peace of Worke..made al of Stone and curiusly voultid.
β1434Indenture Fotheringhey in Dugdale Monast. (1846) VI. 1414/2 Three strong and mighty arches vawthid with stoon. 1448Hen. VI in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 356, .ij. chambres aboue, vauted. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. lxxxix. 99/1 The houses within were well vawted with stone, so that the engynes nor spryngalles dyd the men but small domage. 1584B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 105 b, He caused an oxe to be made of wood, inwardly vauted and hollow within. 1612Selden Illustr. Drayton's Poly-olb. Note to iii. 238 Chedder Cleeues, rocky and vauted, by continual distilling, is the fountain of a forcible stream.
γ1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii, Narrow Vales vaulted about with Hils. 1615tr. De Montfart's Surv. E. Indies 10 The said place is all vaulted about with Porches. 1686Wood Life 10 July, Buried..in a grave brickt and vaulted over with bricks. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 165 The inside is vaulted, and is large enough for the reception of eight or ten beavers. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 19 It was rain-water, preserved in small reservoirs, vaulted over with brick and mortar. 1831Scott Cast. Dang. viii, The study..was vaulted with stone. 1873Tristram Moab v. 77 Long ranges of buildings..most solidly vaulted.
c. Of things: To form a vault over (something); to cover like a vault; to overarch.
1667Milton P.L. vi. 214 The dismal hiss Of fiery Darts in flaming volies flew, And flying vaulted either Host with fire. 1682Wheler Journ. Greece i. 70 The wall beginning to bend forward, Arch-wise, as if it were to vault a Portico. 1719Young Busiris iv. i, Have I not seen whole armies vaulted o'er With flying jav'lins? 1736Wesley Jrnl. 23 Jan. (1829) I. 21, I was vaulted over with water in a moment. 1777G. Forster Voy. round World II. 187 The tufted arbours which vaulted over the paths, are hung with beautiful flowers of all kinds. 1807J. Barlow Columb. vii. 231 Blaze-trailing fuses vault the night's dim round, And shells and langrage lacerate the ground.
2. absol. To construct a vault or vaults. rare—0.
c1440Promp. Parv. 512/1 Vowtyn, or make a vowte, arcuo, testudino. 1552Huloet, Vaulten or make vaultes, or arches, fornico. 1570Levins Manip. 16/40 To valte, arcum ducere.
3. To bend, arch, or raise (something) after the manner of a vault.
1552Huloet, Vaulten or make bente lyke a bowe, arcuor. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxxxvi. iii, Whose skillfull art did vault the skies. 1626Bacon Sylva §376 You must Vault the Earth, whereby it may hang over them, and not touch them. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., To vault a horse-shoe, is to forge it hollow,..that the shoe, thus hollow or vaulted, may not bear upon the sole that is higher than the hoof. 1833Tennyson Lotos-Eaters 85 Hateful is the dark-blue sky, Vaulted o'er the dark-blue sea. 1877J. Bryce Transcauc. & Ararat 35 Looking..across the vast expanse, with the wide blue sky vaulted over it.
†4. To make vaults or cavities under (something).
1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 77 Wee shall vault and vnder⁓mine your foundations in such maner that they shalbe torne vpside downe.
5. intr. To curve in the form of a vault.
1805E. de Acton Nuns of Desert II. 166 The spangled arch, which vaulted to the footstool of the Throne of Mercy. 1807J. Barlow Columb. v. 30 A dusky deep, serene as breathless even, Seem'd vaulting downward like another heaven. 1844Emerson Misc., Tantalus Wks. (Bohn) III. 323 Her mighty orbit vaults like the fresh rainbow into the deep.
▪ IV. vault, v.2|vɔːlt|
Forms: α. 6 vaute, 6–7 vaut; 6 vaught. β. 6– vault.
[app. ad. OF. volter (voulter, etc.) to gambol, leap, assimilated in form to prec.]
1. trans.
a. To mount (a horse) by leaping. rare—1.
1538Elyot, Desultor, he that can vaute [pr. vaunte; 1545 vaulte] a horse, and leape frome one horsbacke vnto an other. [Cf. vaulting vbl. n.2 1, quot. 1531.]
†b. fig. (Cf. leap v. 9.) Obs.
1611Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 134 Should he make me Liue like Diana's Priest, betwixt cold sheets, Whiles he is vaulting variable Rampes In your despight.
c. To get over, surmount, by vaulting.
1884Kendal Mercury & Times 3 Oct. 5/1 The gate..has been locked,..so that foot passengers have to vault the gate. 1901Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 550/1 Rodgers vaulted the boxwood and seated himself on her veranda.
2. a. intr. To spring or leap; spec. to leap with the assistance of the hand resting on the thing to be surmounted, or with the aid of a pole.
αa1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 64 To vaut lustely, to runne, to leape, to wrestle. 1591Lodge Hist. Dk. Normandy G ij, He was actiue of bodie, & vaughted exceedingly well. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 142 If I could winne a Lady at Leape-frogge, or by vawting into my Saddle, with my Armour on my backe. 1618Bolton Florus (1636) 170 King Theutobocchus..was wont to vaut over foure or five horses set together. 1621G. Sandys Ovid's Met. ii. (1626) 25 The generous and gallant Phaëton, All courage, vaut's into the blazing Throne.
β1609B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. i, Such a delicate steeple, i' the towne, as Bow, to vault from. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Disc. xi. 155 When we addresse ourselves to prayer..let us..when we have done, not rise from the ground as if we vaulted, or were glad we had done. 1699Bentley Phal. 268 In his Dances he leap'd up, and vaulted, like Phrynichus, who was celebrated for those Performances. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 84 Vaulting from one to the other. 1791Cowper Iliad vii. 285 In standing fight adjusting all my steps To martial measures sweet, or vaulting light Into my chariot, thence [I] can urge the foe. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxii, Vaulting from the ground, His saddle every horseman found. 1830Tennyson Mermaid 33, I would..lightly vault from the throne and play With the mermen in and out of the rocks. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 220 Can he vault among swords, and turn upon a wheel.
fig.1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 68 Ignorance seldom vaults into knowledge, but passes into it through an intermediate state of obscurity. 1836Emerson Nature viii. Prospects Wks. (Bohn) II. 171 As if a banished king should buy his territories inch by inch, instead of vaulting at once into his throne. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 212 note, He was ordained priest a day or two only before he vaulted into the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
†b. = leap v. 9. Obs.
Cf. fig. uses of vaulter2 and vaulting vbl. n.2
1576Turberv. Venerie 44 Harts do commonly beginne to Vault about the middest of September. 1725New Cant. Dict., To Vault, to commit Acts of Debauchery.
3. trans. To cause to rise to or into a considerably higher position or situation.
1976National Observer (U.S.) 31 July 1/2 Nadia Comaneci's electrifying gymnastics performances vaulted her from obscurity to world-wide renown. 1977Detroit Free Press 11 Dec. 2-d/2 Severiano Ballesteros of Spain shot a three-under-par 69 Saturday and vaulted his team into a three-stroke lead over Canada after 54 holes of the 25th World Cup Golf Championship Saturday. |