dome

American  

[dohm] / doʊm /

noun

1. Architecture.

   1. a vault, having a circular plan and usually in the form of a portion of a sphere, so constructed as to exert an equal thrust in all directions.

   2. a domical roof or ceiling.

   3. a polygonal vault, ceiling, or roof.

2. any covering thought to resemble the hemispherical vault of a building or room.

   the great dome of the sky.

3. anything shaped like a hemisphere or inverted bowl.

4. (in a dam) a semidome having its convex surface toward the impounded water.

5. Crystallography. a form having planes that intersect the vertical axis and are parallel to one of the lateral axes.

6. Geology. upwarp.

7. Also called vistadome.  Railroads. a raised, glass-enclosed section of the roof of a passenger car, placed over an elevated section of seats to afford passengers a full view of scenery.

8. Horology. an inner cover for the works of a watch, which snaps into the rim of the case.

9. a mountain peak having a rounded summit.

10. Slang. a person's head.

    I wish I could get the idea into that thick dome of yours.

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verb (used with object)

domed, doming

1. to cover with or as if with a dome.

2. to shape like a dome.

verb (used without object)

domed, doming

1. to rise or swell as a dome.

dome British  

/ dəʊm, ˈdəʊmɪkəl, ˈdɒm- /

noun

1. a hemispherical roof or vault or a structure of similar form

2. something shaped like this

3. crystallog a crystal form in which two planes intersect along an edge parallel to a lateral axis

4. a slang word for the head

5. geology

   1. a structure in which rock layers slope away in all directions from a central point

   2. another name for pericline

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verb

1. to cover with or as if with a dome

2. to shape like a dome

dome Scientific  

/ dōm /

1. A circular or elliptical area of uplifted rock in which the rock dips gently away, in all directions, from a central point.

2. A wedge-shaped mineral crystal that has two nonparallel, similarly inclined faces that intersect along a plane of symmetry.

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Other Word Forms

• domelike adjective
• domical adjective

Etymology

Origin of dome

1505–15; < Middle French dome < Italian duomo < Medieval Latin domus ( Deī ) house (of God), church; akin to timber

Example Sentences

Three towers, each topped with a dome in dusky pink, gave it a look of wit and knowing intelligence, and its vast arched windows with their broad sills gave it solidity and purpose.

From Literature

I spot porches, a conservatory, and an odd copper dome wedged in on the side.

From Literature

Though it wasn’t the sparsely green terrain or occasionally snowcapped mountains that caught his eye, it was instead the historic collection of white domes and solar towers that make up the Mount Wilson Observatory.

From Los Angeles Times

Constantinople is even grander than Naples and is totally breathtaking with its gold domes shimmering in the sun.

From Literature

The disaster spread nuclear contaminants across Europe, and authorities have since built a giant dome to try to contain radioactive materials there.

From BBC