Found 2 items, similar to barrel vault.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: barrel vault barrel vault n : the simplest form of vault; a single continuous arch
English → English (gcide) Definition: Barrel vault Vault \Vault\ (v[add]lt; see Note, below), n. [OE. voute, OF. voute, volte, F. vo[^u]te, LL. volta, for voluta, volutio, fr. L. volvere, volutum, to roll, to turn about. See Voluble, and cf. Vault a leap, Volt a turn, Volute.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy. [1913 Webster] The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. --Gray. [1913 Webster] 2. An arched apartment; especially, a subterranean room, use for storing articles, for a prison, for interment, or the like; a cell; a cellar. “Charnel vaults.” --Milton. [1913 Webster] The silent vaults of death. --Sandys. [1913 Webster] To banish rats that haunt our vault. --Swift. [1913 Webster] 3. The canopy of heaven; the sky. [1913 Webster] That heaven's vault should crack. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 4. [F. volte, It. volta, originally, a turn, and the same word as volta an arch. See the Etymology above.] A leap or bound. Specifically: (a) (Man.) The bound or leap of a horse; a curvet. (b) A leap by aid of the hands, or of a pole, springboard, or the like. [1913 Webster] Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in pronunciation. [1913 Webster] Barrel vault, Cradle vault, Cylindrical vault, or Wagon vault (Arch.), a kind of vault having two parallel abutments, and the same section or profile at all points. It may be rampant, as over a staircase (see Rampant vault , under Rampant), or curved in plan, as around the apse of a church. Coved vault. (Arch.) See under 1st Cove, v. t. Groined vault (Arch.), a vault having groins, that is, one in which different cylindrical surfaces intersect one another, as distinguished from a barrel, or wagon, vault. Rampant vault. (Arch.) See under Rampant. Ribbed vault (Arch.), a vault differing from others in having solid ribs which bear the weight of the vaulted surface. True Gothic vaults are of this character. Vault light, a partly glazed plate inserted in a pavement or ceiling to admit light to a vault below. [1913 Webster] Barrel \Bar"rel\ (b[a^]r"r[e^]l), n.[OE. barel, F. baril, prob. fr. barre bar. Cf. Barricade.] 1. A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads; as, a cracker barrel. Sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum. [1913 Webster +PJC] 2. The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 311/2 gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds. [1913 Webster] 3. A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled. [1913 Webster] 4. A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged. --Knight. [1913 Webster] 5. A jar. [Obs.] --1 Kings xvii. 12. [1913 Webster] 6. (Zo["o]l.) The hollow basal part of a feather. [1913 Webster] Barrel bulk (Com.), a measure equal to five cubic feet, used in estimating capacity, as of a vessel for freight. Barrel drain (Arch.), a drain in the form of a cylindrical tube. Barrel of a boiler, the cylindrical part of a boiler, containing the flues. Barrel of the ear (Anat.), the tympanum, or tympanic cavity. Barrel organ, an instrument for producing music by the action of a revolving cylinder. Barrel vault. See under Vault. [1913 Webster]