Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Erect?

\E*rect"\, a. [L. erectus, p. p. of erigere to erect; e out + regere to lead straight. See {Right}, and cf. {Alert}.] 1. Upright, or having a vertical position; not inverted; not leaning or bent; not prone; as, to stand erect. Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall. --Milton. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect -- a column of ruins. --Gibbon. 2. Directed upward; raised; uplifted. His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view Superior worlds, and look all nature through. --Pope. 3. Bold; confident; free from depression; undismayed. But who is he, by years Bowed, but erect in heart? --Keble. 4. Watchful; alert. Vigilant and erect attention of mind. --Hooker. 5. (Bot.) Standing upright, with reference to the earth's surface, or to the surface to which it is attached. 6. (Her.) Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents, etc.
\E*rect"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Erected}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Erecting}.] 1. To raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position; to set upright; to raise; as, to erect a pole, a flagstaff, a monument, etc. 2. To raise, as a building; to build; to construct; as, to erect a house or a fort; to set up; to put together the component parts of, as of a machine. 3. To lift up; to elevate; to exalt; to magnify. That didst his state above his hopes erect. --Daniel. I, who am a party, am not to erect myself into a judge. --Dryden. 4. To animate; to encourage; to cheer. It raiseth the dropping spirit, erecting it to a loving complaisance. --Barrow. 5. To set up as an assertion or consequence from premises, or the like. ``To erect conclusions.'' --Sir T. Browne. ``Malebranche erects this proposition.'' --Locke. 6. To set up or establish; to found; to form; to institute. ``To erect a new commonwealth.'' --Hooker. {Erecting shop} (Mach.), a place where large machines, as engines, are put together and adjusted. Syn: To set up; raise; elevate; construct; build; institute; establish; found.
\E*rect"\, v. i. To rise upright. [Obs.] By wet, stalks do erect. --Bacon.