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.
Erect
(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.
Erect
(E*rect"), v. i. To rise upright. [Obs.]
By wet, stalks do erect.
Bacon. Erectable
(E*rect"a*ble) a. Capable of being erected; as, an erectable feather. Col. G. Montagu.
