vault
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An arched brick or stone ceiling or roof.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
vawltIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈvɔlt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An arched brick or stone ceiling or roof
Any arched ceiling or roof.
figuratively
Anything resembling such a downward-facing concave structure, particularly the sky and caves.
An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.
Any cellar or underground storeroom.
A burial chamber (usually underground)
verb
transitive
To build as, or cover with a vault.
transitive
To store in a vault.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An arched brick or stone ceiling or roof
Used this way, vault is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use vault
- “We stored our valuables securely inside the bank vault.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected.
A gymnastic horse without pommels and with one end elongated.
An elaborate system of vaulting in which the ribs diverge like fans.
Two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles.
A competition that involves jumping over a high crossbar with the aid of a long pole.
An athlete who jumps over a high crossbar with the aid of a long pole.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.