wagon-head, waggon-head Arch.
A cylindrical ceiling, roof, or vault.
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 430 Ceilings, formed simply of cylindric surfaces, are termed, by mechanics, waggon-heads. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 215 The best general form is that of a polygonal ‘waggon-head’ of five or seven sides. |
b. attrib. or as adj.
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 482/2 Watt adopted a long rectangular form, with a semi-cylindrical top... From this form it is termed the waggon-head boiler. 1870 M. A. Lower Hist. Sussex I. 242 The whole of the building has now a wagon-head ceiling in pannelled oak. |
Hence wagon-headed a.
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Builder 114 Lunettes..are made either in waggon-headed ceilings, or through large coves. 1897 F. J. Burgoyne Library Constr. 192 A richly moulded waggon-headed roof. |