What does "erect" mean?
Erect: Directed upward; raised; uplifted. His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view Superior worlds, and look all nature through. Pope.
Additional senses
- 2.Bold; confident; free from depression; undismayed. But who is he, by years Bowed, but erect in heart Keble.
- 3.Watchful; alert. Vigilant and erect attention of mind. Hooker.
- 4.(Bot.) Standing upright, with reference to the earth's surface, or to the surface to which it is attached.
- 5.(Her.) Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents, etc.
- 6.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.
- 7.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.
- 8.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.
- 9.To animate; to encourage; to cheer. It raiseth the dropping spirit, erecting it to a loving complaisance. Barrow.
- 10.To set up as an assertion or consequence from premises, or the like. "To erect conclusions." Sir T. Browne. "Malebranche erects this proposition." Locke.
- 11.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.
- 12.To rise upright. [Obs.] By wet, stalks do erect. Bacon.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/answers/what-does-erect-mean
- Steward: Jason Burns
- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00