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.
