ERECT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does erect mean? 

• ERECT (adjective)
  The adjective ERECT has 2 senses:

1. upright in position or posture

2. of sexual organs; stiff and rigid

  Familiarity information: ERECT used as an adjective is rare.

• ERECT (verb)
  The verb ERECT has 2 senses:

1. construct, build, or erect

2. cause to rise up

  Familiarity information: ERECT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ERECT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Upright in position or posture

Synonyms:

erect; upright; vertical

Context example:

he sat bolt upright

Similar:

straight; unbent; unbowed (erect in posture)

statant (standing on four feet)

stand-up (requiring a standing position)

standing (having a supporting base)

semi-upright (of animals that are partly erect)

semi-erect (of plants that are partly erect)

semi-climbing (of plants that are semi-climbers)

rampant; rearing (rearing on left hind leg with forelegs elevated and head usually in profile)

passant (in walking position with right foreleg raised)

orthostatic (pertaining to an upright standing posture)

fastigiate (having clusters of erect branches (often appearing to form a single column))

erectile (capable of being raised to an upright position)

Attribute:

attitude; position; posture (the arrangement of the body and its limbs)

Antonym:

unerect (not upright in position or posture)

Derivation:

erectness (position at right angles to the horizon)

erectness (the property of being upright in posture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of sexual organs; stiff and rigid

Synonyms:

erect; tumid

Similar:

hard (resisting weight or pressure)

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

• ERECT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they erect    ... he / she / it erects   
Past simple: erected   
Past participle: erected   
-ing form: erecting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Construct, build, or erect

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

erect; put up; raise; rear; set up

Context example:

Raise a barn

Hypernyms (to "erect" is one way to...):

build; construct; make (make by combining materials and parts)

Domain category:

building; construction (the act of constructing something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

erecting; erection (the act of building or putting up)

erection (a structure that has been erected)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to rise up

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

erect; rear

Hypernyms (to "erect" is one way to...):

bring up; elevate; get up; lift; raise (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "erect"):

pitch; set up (erect and fasten)

cock up; prick; prick up (raise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

erection (the act of building or putting up)

 Context examples 

When he finally gained his feet, another minute or so was consumed in straightening up, so that he could stand erect as a man should stand.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The second hut was easier to erect, for I built it against the first, and only three walls were required.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Mr. Micawber, with his hand upon the ruler in his breast, stood erect before the door, most unmistakably contemplating one of his fellow-men, and that man his employer.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He did not stand erect, but with trunk inclined forward from the hips, on legs that bent at the knees.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

This tomb was erected by his sorrowing mother to her dearly beloved son.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The student had drawn himself erect.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

USDA Red is a semi-flat type of spinach with a medium growth rate and semi-erect leaves.

(World's First True Red Spinach Variety Released, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

His person was short but remarkably erect and his voice the sweetest I had ever heard.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

His figure was erect and soldierly, and he rode his horse with the careless grace of a man whose life had been spent in the saddle.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)