The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. --Gray.
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.
The silent vaults of death. --Sandys.
To banish rats that haunt our vault. --Swift.
3. The canopy of heaven; the sky.
That heaven's vault should crack. --Shak.
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.
Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in
pronunciation.
{Barrel}, {Cradle}, {Cylindrical}, 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.
The cradle that received thee at thy birth.
--Cowper.
No sooner was I crept out of my cradle But I was
made a king, at nine months old. --Shak.
2. Infancy, or very early life.
From their cradles bred together. --Shak.
A form of worship in which they had been educated
from their cradles. --Clarendon.
3. (Agric.) An implement consisting of a broad scythe for
cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the
scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it
evenly in a swath.
4. (Engraving) A tool used in mezzotint engraving, which, by
a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the
plate, so preparing the ground.
5. A framework of timbers, or iron bars, moving upon ways or
rollers, used to support, lift, or carry ships or other
vessels, heavy guns, etc., as up an inclined plane, or
across a strip of land, or in launching a ship.
6. (Med.)
(a) A case for a broken or dislocated limb.
(b) A frame to keep the bedclothes from contact with the
person.
7. (Mining)
(a) A machine on rockers, used in washing out auriferous
earth; -- also called a {rocker}. [U.S.]
(b) A suspended scaffold used in shafts.
8. (Carp.) The ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches
intended to be covered with plaster. --Knight.
9. (Naut.) The basket or apparatus in which, when a line has
been made fast to a wrecked ship from the shore, the
people are brought off from the wreck.
{Cat's cradle}. See under {Cat}.
{Cradle hole}, a sunken place in a road, caused by thawing,
or by travel over a soft spot.
{Cradle scythe}, a broad scythe used in a cradle for cutting
grain.
It cradles their fears to sleep. --D. A. Clark.
2. To nurse or train in infancy.
He that hath been cradled in majesty will not leave
the throne to play with beggars. --Glanvill.
3. To cut and lay with a cradle, as grain.
4. To transport a vessel by means of a cradle.
In Lombardy . . . boats are cradled and transported
over the grade. --Knight.
{To cradle a picture}, to put ribs across the back of a
picture, to prevent the panels from warping.
Withered roots and husks wherein the acorn cradled.
--Shak.