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.
      
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            Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall. --Milton.
      
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            Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia,
            Philadelphia is still erect -- a column of ruins.
                                                  --Gibbon.
      
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   2. Directed upward; raised; uplifted.
      
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            His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view
            Superior worlds, and look all nature through.
                                                  --Pope.
      
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   3. Bold; confident; free from depression; undismayed.
      
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            But who is he, by years
            Bowed, but erect in heart?            --Keble.
      
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   4. Watchful; alert.
      
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            Vigilant and erect attention of mind. --Hooker.
      
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   5. (Bot.) Standing upright, with reference to the earth's
      surface, or to the surface to which it is attached.
      
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   6. (Her.) Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents,
      etc.
      
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Erect \E*rect"\, v. i.
   To rise upright. [Obs.]
   
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         By wet, stalks do erect.                 --Bacon.
   
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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.
      
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   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.
      
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   3. To lift up; to elevate; to exalt; to magnify.
      
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            That didst his state above his hopes erect.
                                                  --Daniel.
      
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            I, who am a party, am not to erect myself into a
            judge.                                --Dryden.
      
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   4. To animate; to encourage; to cheer.
      
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            It raiseth the dropping spirit, erecting it to a
            loving complaisance.                  --Barrow.
      
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   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.
      
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   6. To set up or establish; to found; to form; to institute.
      "To erect a new commonwealth." --Hooker.
      
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   {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.
        
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