dome Hear it!

dome Definition

dome (dōm)

noun

  1. Old Poet. a mansion or stately building
  2. a hemispherical roof or one formed by a series of rounded arches or vaults on a round or many-sided base; cupola
  3. any dome-shaped structure or object; specif., a sports stadium covered with a dome
  4. Slang the head
  5. Geol.
    1. an anticlinal structure of circular or broadly elliptical form
    2. a type of crystal formation in which two symmetrical faces meet at an angle to form a horizontal ridge

Etymology: domesense < L domus, house (< IE *domu- < base *dem-, to build); others < Fr dôme < Prov doma < LL(Ec), roof, building, cathedral < Gr dōma, housetop, house, temple < same IE base: see timber, dominate

transitive verb domed, dom′·ing

  1. to cover with or as with a dome
  2. to form into a dome

intransitive verb

to swell out like a dome

dome Synonyms

dome

n.

  1. A hemispherical roof

    cupola, top, bulge, vault, onion dome, coving, mosque roof, church roof, bubble dome, geodesic dome, rotunda, sports dome, stadium; see also arch, roof.

  2. *The head

    skull, cranium, noggin*; see head 1.

dome Usage Examples

Converse of subject

  • surmount: It was circular, surmounted by a dome giving off flashes of green light.

Object

  • forehead: In steady swimming, domed forehead breaks the surface when breathing, often before dorsal fin is seen.
  • ceiling: The drawing room had a domed ceiling like the night sky painted in midnight blue with gold stars.
  • roof: In places the domed roof reaches over 60 feet in height.
  • lid: The jug shaped vessel had a domed lid surmounted by an acorn ornament.

Adjective modifier

  • geodesic: It is claimed that there are 100,000 geodesic domes in use around the world.
  • onion-shaped: Its two massive, onion-shaped copper domes appear on nearly every postcard of the city.
  • gilded: The citadel atop the hill at the center of the city was clearly visible, light reflecting off of it's gilded dome.
  • lofty: Florence's lofty domes and sacred art will make your senses reel.
  • rounded: The rounded volcanic domes seen in the last few days now give way to the more dramatic rugged skyline of the French Alps.
  • volcanic: The rounded volcanic domes seen in the last few days now give way to the more dramatic rugged skyline of the French Alps.

Modifies a noun

  • tweeter: With separate mid and bass units combining with a soft dome tweeter you can be assured of a detailed yet powerful sound quality.
  • tent: Most of the large dome tents require two people for ease of erection.
  • collapse: Further analysis and categorisation of the swarms indicate a migration of the trigger source, particularly after a dome collapse.

Noun used with modifier

  • lava: Aerial photography taken on 21 July revealed than an external lava dome was not visible at the bottom of the crater.
  • planetarium: Of on-line gaming planetarium dome a the marina district.
  • millenium: I'll build a mini millenium dome in my garden!
  • onion: Further down we saw the Russian Orthodox Church easily identifiable by its golden onion domes.
  • summit: Stone Arthur is out of sight below the curve of the summit dome.
  • granite: Like many places in the Sierra Nevada, this is a landscape of dramatic granite domes.
dome Quotes

I am the daughter of Earth and Water, And the nursling of the Sky; I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I cannot die, For after the rain when with never a stain The pavilion of Heaven is bare, And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams Build up the blue dome of air, I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

I hate to join the chortling ranks of [Millennium] Dome rubbishers in the right-wing press†but, alas, I have to admit the Dome is a lemon.

—Toynbee, Polly

The dome of the Pantheon over the vault of theTemple of Peace.

—Bramante, Donato

   The One remains, the many change and pass; Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly: Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, Stains the white radiance of Eternity, Until Death tramples it to fragments.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

The Millennium Dome was intended to be New Labour's Xanadu and Tony Blair its Kubla Khan.

—Rawnsley, Andrew

A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains All that man is, All mere complexities The fury and the mire of human veins.

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

Some keep the Sabbath going to Churchö I keep it, staying at Homeö With a Bobolink for a Choristerö And an Orchard, for a Domeö

—Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth

   And the gods are absent and the men are stillö Noli me tangere, my soul is forfeit. Some are now happy in the hive of home, Thigh over thigh and a light in the night nursery, And some are hungry under the starry dome And some sit turning handles.

—MacNeice, (Frederick) Louis