# vault

Pronunciation: US say "VAHLT" /vɑlt/; say "VOLT" UK /vɒlt/, AUS /vɔlt/

## Noun

1. A secure room in or below a bank where money and other valuables are stored, or a similar strongroom elsewhere.
   - Simple: A strong, locked room where a bank, or another place, keeps money and valuable things safe.
   - _The robbers drilled up through the floor to reach the vault._
   - _The library keeps its rarest manuscripts in a climate-controlled vault._
3. An arched structure of stone or brick that forms and supports a ceiling or roof, standing alone or as part of a larger building.
   - Simple: A curved stone or brick ceiling or roof, shaped like an arch.
   - _The cathedral's vault soars high above the nave, ribbed like the inside of a ship._
   - _Painters spent four years covering the vault of the chapel with scenes from the Bible._
4. A burial chamber, especially one built underground.
   - Simple: A room, often under the ground, where dead people are buried.
   - _Six generations of the family lie in the vault beneath the chapel._
   - _The coffin was carried down the narrow steps into the vault._
5. In gymnastics, a move on the vault in which the gymnast runs, pushes off the table with the hands and flies to the landing.
   - Simple: In gymnastics, a jump in which you push off the vault with your hands and fly over it.
   - _She landed her second vault without taking a single step._
   - _His vault included two and a half twists before the landing._
6. In gymnastics, the apparatus that gymnasts run at and leap over, pushing off it with their hands.
   - Simple: In gymnastics, the piece of equipment that people run at and jump over.
   - _The coach lowered the vault for the younger gymnasts._
   - _She sprinted down the runway, hit the springboard, and pushed off the vault._
7. A cellar or other underground room used for storage.
   - Simple: A room under the ground, used for keeping things.
   - _Barrels of wine were stored in the cool vault beneath the kitchen._
   - _The old shop had a vault under the sidewalk where coal was once kept._
8. An archive of past content, such as old recordings, programs, or articles.
   - Simple: A collection of old things, like songs, shows, or articles, that has been kept.
   - _The network dug into its vault for a weekend marathon of classic episodes._
   - _The band's new box set is full of unreleased tracks from the vault._
9. The space under an arched roof, especially an underground room or, in obsolete church use, a crypt.
   - Simple: The space under a curved roof, often a room under the ground.
   - _Our footsteps echoed through the vault beneath the old market hall._
   - _Pilgrims crowded into the vault under the abbey church to see the saint's shrine._
10. Anything shaped like an arched ceiling seen from below, especially the sky or the roof of a cave.
   - Simple: Something curved over you like a ceiling, like the sky or the top of a cave.
   - _Stars glittered across the vault of the night sky._
   - _Bats hung in dense clusters from the vault of the cavern._
11. A leap or jump, the act of vaulting; in older use, chiefly the leap of a deer.
   - Simple: A jump or leap, in the past used mostly about deer.
   - _The buck cleared the stream in a single vault and vanished into the trees._
   - _With one quick vault he was over the wall and gone._
14. In computing, an encrypted digital archive that can be opened only with the right key or password.
   - Simple: In computing, a safe place where files are locked with a secret code.
   - _Her password manager keeps every login in a single encrypted vault._
   - _The company stores its signing keys in a vault that even its own engineers cannot read._
15. In gymnastics, the competition event in which gymnasts jump over the vaulting horse, or a performance in that event.
   - Simple: In gymnastics, the event where people jump over the vaulting horse.
   - _She won gold on vault and silver on the floor exercise._
   - _The men's vault final starts right after the rings._
17. In horsemanship, a volte: a circular movement made by the horse.
   - Simple: In horse riding, a movement where the horse goes around in a circle.
   - _The judge watched closely as the mare traced a vault near the letter B._
   - _Each vault should be the same size, with the horse bent evenly through its body._

## Verb

2. To leap over something, resting a hand or foot on it for support.
   - Simple: To jump over something by putting your hand or foot on it to help.
   - _Runners in the race have to vault three wooden fences._
   - _He planted a hand on the counter and vaulted over into the kitchen._
12. To build something in the form of a vault, or to cover it with one.
   - Simple: To build something in the shape of a curved roof, or to cover a place with one.
   - _Medieval masons chose to vault the crypt with low brick arches._
   - _Tall elms vaulted the lane, their branches meeting overhead._
13. To store something in a vault.
   - Simple: To put something in a vault to keep it safe.
   - _Serious collectors vault their rarest coins rather than keep them at home._
   - _The studio vaulted the original film negatives in an old salt mine._
16. In video games, to remove an item, character, map, or other content from a game in an update.
   - Simple: In video games, to take something like a weapon or a map out of the game in an update.
   - _The developers vaulted the grenade launcher in the latest patch._
   - _Players were furious when the studio decided to vault their favorite map._

## Noun

18. An underground or covered channel for water or waste, such as a drain or sewer. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A covered channel, often under the ground, that carries away water or waste.
   - _Rainwater from the main street drained away through a stone vault beneath the road._
   - _The town's old vaults carried its waste down to the river._
19. An underground or covered tank for holding water or waste, such as a cistern or cesspit. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A covered tank, often under the ground, that holds water or waste.
   - _The house drew its drinking water from a vault under the courtyard._
   - _Every few months a cart came at night to empty the vault behind the inn._
20. A polite word for a toilet room that drains into a cesspit or sewer, such as an outhouse or lavatory. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A polite word for a toilet, like an outhouse.
   - _He excused himself and went out to the vault behind the tavern._
   - _The servants scrubbed the vault and emptied the slops every morning._

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–4, 7–10, 12–14, 16, 18–20** — From Middle English vaute, from Old French volte (modern voûte), from Vulgar Latin *volta, a regularized form of Latin volūta, the past participle of volvere, “to roll, turn.” Compare Spanish vuelta, “turn”; it is a doublet of volute.
**Meanings 2, 5–6, 11, 15, 17** — Borrowed from Middle French volter, “to turn or spin around; to frolic,” from Italian voltare, itself from a Vulgar Latin frequentative of Latin volvere. It was later assimilated to the other word vault.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/vault (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).