\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.