<B>vassal, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>in the European feudal system: <DD><B> a. </B>a person who held lands from a lord or a superior, to whom in return he gave help in war or some other service. A great noble could be a vassal of the king and have many other men as his vassals. <DD><B> b. </B>a tenant in fee; retainer. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a person who holds a position similar to that of a feudal vassal. <DD><B> b. </B>a person in the service of another; servant. <DD><B> c. </B>(Figurative.) a person completely subject to some influence. <BR> <I>Ex. The feeble vassals of wine and anger and lust (Tennyson). To You, O Goddess of Efficiency, Your happy vassals bend the reverent knee (Samuel Hoffenstein).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a bondman; slave. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>like that of a vassal; subject; subordinate. <BR> <I>Ex. vassal princes, a vassal nation.</I> (SYN) dependent. <DD><B> 2. </B>of, having to do with, or like a vassal. <BR> <I>Ex. an oath of vassal loyalty.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vassalage">
<B>vassalage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>the condition of being a vassal. <DD><B> b. </B>the homage, allegiance, or service due from a vassal to his lord or superior. <DD><B> c. </B>the land held by a vassal. <DD><B> 2a. </B>dependence; servitude. <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) subjection to some influence. <BR> <I>Ex. the vassalage of strength to the demands of intellect.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a body or group of vassals. </DL>
<A NAME="vassalize">
<B>vassalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make a vassal or vassals of. </DL>
<A NAME="vassalry">
<B>vassalry, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a body of vassals. </DL>
<A NAME="vast">
<B>vast, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of great area; of immense extent; extensive. <BR> <I>Ex. Texas and Alaska cover vast territories.</I> (SYN) immense, tremendous, colossal. <DD><B> 2. </B>of large dimensions; of very great size; huge; massive. <BR> <I>Ex. vast forms that move fantastically (Edgar Allan Poe).</I> (SYN) immense, tremendous, colossal. <DD><B> 3. </B>very great in amount, quantity, or number. <BR> <I>Ex. A billion dollars is a vast amount of money. It is a building with a vast collection of chambers and galleries.</I> (SYN) immense, tremendous, colossal. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) unusually large or comprehensive in grasp or aims. <BR> <I>Ex. the vast and various affairs of government.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an immense space. <BR> <I>Ex. her return to the unconscious vast (Eden Philpotts).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Dialect.) a very great number or amount. <BR> <I>Ex. They had heard a vast of words (Robert Louis Stevenson).</I> noun <B>vastness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vastitude">
<B>vastitude, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality of being vast; immensity. <DD><B> 2. </B>unusual largeness. <DD><B> 3. </B>a vast extent or space. </DL>
<A NAME="vastity">
<B>vastity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>vastness; immensity; vastitude. <BR> <I>Ex. The huge vastity of the world (Philemon Holland).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>wasteness; desolation; void. <BR> <I>Ex. Nothing but emptiness and vastity (Thomas Nashe).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vastly">
<B>vastly, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to a vast extent or degree; immensely. <BR> <I>Ex. an explosion vastly more rapid and powerful.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>exceedingly; extremely; very. <BR> <I>Ex. new housing projects vastly superior to the old slums.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vasty">
<B>vasty, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> vast; immense. <BR> <I>Ex. I can call spirits from the vasty deep (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vat">
<B>vat, </B>noun, verb, <B>vatted,</B> <B>vatting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a barrel, cask, tank, or other large container for liquids. <BR> <I>Ex. a vat of dye.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a large container, often wooden, for fermenting beer, cider, or the like. <DD><B> 3. </B>a container for collecting and evaporating sea water to extract its salt. <DD><B> 4a. </B>a container for holding a liquid used in dyeing. <DD><B> b. </B>a liquid in which a vat dye is made soluble by treatment with an alkaline reducing agent. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to place, store, or treat in a vat. </DL>
<A NAME="vat">
<B>Vat.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Vatican. </DL>
<A NAME="vat">
<B>VAT</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> value-added tax. </DL>
<A NAME="vatdye">
<B>vat dye</B> or <B>color,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a dye, such as indigoid, that is insoluble in water and is made soluble by treatment with an alkaline reducing agent. Vat dyes are resistant to fading. </DL>
<B>vatful, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fuls.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the quantity that a vat will hold. </DL>
<A NAME="vatic">
<B>vatic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or characteristic of a prophet or seer; prophetic; inspired. <BR> <I>Ex. I believe Norman MacCaig's reputation--made slowly and quietly, without any vatic posturing--will prove a durable one (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vatican">
<B>Vatican, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>the collection of buildings grouped about the palace of the pope, built upon the Vatican Hill in Rome. <DD><B> b. </B>the artistic or literary treasures preserved there; the Vatican galleries or library. <DD><B> 2. </B>the government, office, or authority of the pope. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Vatican or its library. </DL>
<A NAME="vaticancouncil">
<B>Vatican Council,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Also, <B>Vatican I.</B> the twentieth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, which met at the Vatican, in 1869 and was indefinitely suspended in 1870. <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>Vatican II.</B> the twenty-first ecumenical council, which met at the Vatican from 1962 to 1965, and was, in effect, a continuation of Vatican I. </DL>
<A NAME="vaticanism">
<B>Vaticanism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doctrine of absolute papal infallibility and supremacy. </DL>
<A NAME="vaticanist">
<B>Vaticanist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a devoted adherent of the pope and believer in Vaticanism. </DL>
<A NAME="vaticide">
<B>vaticide</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of killing a prophet. </DL>
<A NAME="vaticide">
<B>vaticide</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who kills a prophet. </DL>
<A NAME="vaticinal">
<B>vaticinal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the nature of or characterized by prophecy; prophetic. </DL>
<B>vaudeville, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a theatrical entertainment featuring a variety of acts. Vaudeville consists of songs, dances, acrobatic feats, short plays, and trained animals. <DD><B> 2. </B>a play or stage performance of light character, interspersed with songs. <DD><B> 3. </B>a light popular song, commonly of a satirical or topical nature. </DL>
<A NAME="vaudevillian">
<B>vaudevillian, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who performs in or writes songs, sketches, or other entertainment, for vaudeville. <BR> <I>Ex. The pros peddle their skill with the peripatetic energy of old-time vaudevillians (Time).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with vaudeville. <BR> <I>Ex. In these, and the like, he shows a special flair for vaudevillian humor (Winthrop Sargeant).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="vaudois">
<B>Vaudois, </B>noun pl. <B>=Waldenses.</B></DL>
<A NAME="vault">
<B>vault</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>an arched masonry or concrete structure built so that the parts support each other, serving as a roof or covering over a space; series of arches. <DD><B> b. </B>an arched roof or ceiling. <DD><B> c. </B>(Figurative.) something like an arched roof, especially the sky. <BR> <I>Ex. Heaven's ebon vault, Studded with stars (Shelley).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an underground cellar or storehouse. <BR> <I>Ex. He went into the inner vault where he kept his choicest wines (Samuel Butler).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a place for storing valuable things and keeping them safe. Vaults are often made of steel. <BR> <I>Ex. A paper currency is employed when there is no bullion in the vaults (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>an arched space under the floor of a church; crypt. <DD><B> b. </B>a place for burial. <BR> <I>Ex. to be buried in the family vault.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a natural cavern or cave. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Anatomy.) an arched structure, especially the skull. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make in the form of a vault. <BR> <I>Ex. The roof was vaulted.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to set or extend like a vault. <BR> <I>Ex. Hateful is the dark-blue sky Vaulted o'er the dark-blue sea (Tennyson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to cover with a vault. adj. <B>vaultlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vault">
<B>vault</B> (2), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to jump or leap over by using a pole or the hands. <BR> <I>Ex. He vaulted the fence.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to mount (a horse) by leaping. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to jump or leap. <BR> <I>Ex. He vaulted over the wall.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act of vaulting; jump; leap. <DD><B> 2. </B>the leap of a horse in the manege; curvet. noun <B>vaulter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="vaulted">
<B>vaulted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in the form of a vault; arched. <BR> <I>Ex. a vaulted ceiling.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>built or covered with a vault. <BR> <I>Ex. a vaulted room.</I> (SYN) domed. <DD><B> 3. </B>having vaults or underground passages. <BR> <I>Ex. the vaulted catacombs.</I> </DL>
<B>vaulting</B> (2), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>that vaults or leaps, especially in an overzealous manner. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) vaulting ambition.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>used in or for vaulting. <DD><I>noun </I> the act of leaping with a vault. </DL>
<A NAME="vaultinghorse">
<B>vaulting horse,</B> <B>=side horse.</B></DL>
<A NAME="vaultofheaven">
<B>vault of heaven,</B> <B>=sky.</B></DL>
<A NAME="vaulty">
<B>vaulty, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like a vault; arched. </DL>
