Search the Dictionary

ent luminous body or appearance seen in the atmosphere, or in a more elevated region. The vaulty top of heaven Figured quite o'er with burning meteors. Shak.

The arch or rib which crosses a Gothic vault diagonally.

The portion of a vault by means of which the square space in the middle of a building is brought to an octagon or circle to receive a cupola.

mpant arch. (a) An arch which has one abutment higher than the other. (b) Same as Rampant vault, below. -- Rampant gardant (Her.), rampant, but with the face turned to the front. -- Rampant regardant, rampant, but looking backward. -- Rampant vault (Arch.), a continuous wagon vault, or cradle vault, whose two abutme…

s. Prov. xxiii. 16. I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts. Rev. ii. 23. Reins of a vault (Arch.), the parts between the crown andd the spring or abutment, including, and having especial reference to, the loading or filling behind the shell of the vault. The reins are to a vault nearly what the haunches are to an…

after the life is gone; relics; a dead body. Old warriors whose adored remains In weeping vaults her hallowed earth contains! Pope.

In Gothic vaulting, one of the primary members of the vault. These are strong arches, meeting and crossing one another, dividing the whole space into triangles, which are then filled by vaulted construction of lighter material. Hence, an imitation of one of these in wood, plaster, or the like.

ngle, especially the angle at the top between the opposite slopes or sides of a roof or a vault.

ry and maintain the same upon the walls or other uprights. In the case of a building with vaulted ceilings protected by an outer roof, some writers call the vault the roof, and the outer protection the roof mask. It is better, however, to consider the vault as the ceiling only, in cases where it has farther covering.…

A strong and fireproof receptacle (as a movable chest of steel, etc., or a closet or vault of brickwork) for money, valuable papers, or the like.

A deformed condition of the skull, in which the vault is narrow, clongated, and more or less boat-shaped.

A bay or compartment of a vaulted ceiling. [Written also civery.]

A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or den; also, a vault or crypt. [Obs.] The shroud to which he won His fair-eyed oxen. Chapman. A vault, or shroud, as under a church. Withals.

The apparent arch, or vault, of heaven, which in a clear day is of a blue color; the heavens; the firmament; -- sometimes in the plural. The Norweyan banners flout the sky. Shak.

Resembling, or consisting of, snares; entangling; insidious. Spiders in the vault their snary webs have spread. Dryden.

feet; a turning end over end. [Written also summersault, sommerset, summerset, etc.] "The vaulter's sombersalts." Donne. Now I'll only Make him break his neck in doing a sommerset. Beau. & Fl.

d violence; to move with activity; to dart; to shoot. And sudden light Sprung through the vaulted roof. Dryden.

The rib of a groined vault, as being the solid abutment for each section of vaulting.

To stifle, choke, or suffocate in any manner. Shall I not then be stifled in the vault, . . . And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes Shak.

et or highway; sewage. [Obs.] The streets were exceedingly large, well paved, having many vaults and conveyances under them for sullage. Evelyn.