Adjacent Words

Vertical definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VERT'ICAL, a. [L. vertex.]
1. Placed or being in the zenith, or perpendicularly over the head. The sun is vertical to the inhabitants within the tropics at certain times every year.
2. Being in a position perpendicular to the plane of the horizon.
Vertical leaves, in botany, are such as stand so erect, that neither of the surfaces can be called the upper or under.
Vertical anthers, are such as terminate the filaments, and being inserted by their base, stand no less upright than the filaments themselves.
Vertical circle, in astronomy, a great circle passing through the zenith and the nadir. The meridian of any place is a vertical circle. The vertical circles are called azimuths.
Vertical line, in conics, is a right line drawn on the vertical plane, and passing through the vertex of the cone.
Vertical plane, in conics, is a plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis.
Prime vertical, a great circle of the sphere, perpendicular to the horizon, and passing through the zenith and the east and west points.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line; "a vertical camera angle"; "the monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab"; "measure the perpendicular height" [syn: vertical, perpendicular] [ant: horizontal, inclined]
2: relating to or involving all stages of a business from production to distribution
3: upright in position or posture; "an erect stature"; "erect flower stalks"; "for a dog, an erect tail indicates aggression"; "a column still vertical amid the ruins"; "he sat bolt upright" [syn: erect, vertical, upright] [ant: unerect]
4: of or relating to different levels in a hierarchy (as levels of social class or income group); "vertical social mobility" n
1: something that is oriented vertically
2: a vertical structural member as a post or stake; "the ball sailed between the uprights" [syn: upright, vertical]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French, from Late Latin verticalis, from Latin vertic-, vertex Date: 1559 1. a. situated at the highest point ; directly overhead or in the zenith b. of an aerial photograph taken with the camera pointing straight down or nearly so 2. a. perpendicular to the plane of the horizon or to a primary axis ; upright b. (1) located at right angles to the plane of a supporting surface (2) lying in the direction of an axis ; lengthwise 3. a. relating to, involving, or integrating economic activity from basic production to point of sale <a vertical monopoly> b. of, relating to, or comprising persons of different status <the vertical arrangement of society> • vertical noun • verticality noun • vertically adverb • verticalness noun Synonyms: vertical, perpendicular, plumb mean being at right angles to a base line. vertical suggests a line or direction rising straight upward toward a zenith <the side of the cliff is almost vertical>. perpendicular may stress the straightness of a line making a right angle with any other line, not necessarily a horizontal one <the parallel bars are perpendicular to the support posts>. plumb stresses an exact verticality determined (as with a plumb line) by earth's gravity <make sure that the wall is plumb>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 at right angles to a horizontal plane, perpendicular. 2 in a direction from top to bottom of a picture etc. 3 of or at the vertex or highest point. 4 at, or passing through, the zenith. 5 Anat. of or relating to the crown of the head. 6 involving all the levels in an organizational hierarchy or stages in the production of a class of goods (vertical integration). --n. a vertical line or plane. Phrases and idioms: out of the vertical not vertical. vertical angles Math. each pair of opposite angles made by two intersecting lines. vertical fin Zool. a dorsal, anal, or caudal fin. vertical plane a plane at right angles to the horizontal. vertical take-off the take-off of an aircraft directly upwards. Derivatives: verticality n. verticalize v.tr. (also -ise). vertically adv. Etymology: F vertical or LL verticalis (as VERTEX)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vertical Ver"ti*cal, n. 1. Vertical position; zenith. [R.] 2. (Math.) A vertical line, plane, or circle. Prime vertical, Prime vertical dial. See under Prime, a.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vertical Ver"ti*cal, a. [Cf. F. vertical. See Vertex.] 1. Of or pertaining to the vertex; situated at the vertex, or highest point; directly overhead, or in the zenith; perpendicularly above one. Charity . . . is the vertical top of all religion. --Jer. Taylor. 2. Perpendicular to the plane of the horizon; upright; plumb; as, a vertical line. Vertical angle (Astron. & Geod.), an angle measured on a vertical circle, called an angle of elevation, or altitude, when reckoned from the horizon upward, and of depression when downward below the horizon. Vertical anthers (Bot.), such anthers as stand erect at the top of the filaments. Vertical circle (Astron.), an azimuth circle. See under Azimuth. Vertical drill, an drill. See under Upright. Vertical fire (Mil.), the fire, as of mortars, at high angles of elevation. Vertical leaves (Bot.), leaves which present their edges to the earth and the sky, and their faces to the horizon, as in the Australian species of Eucalyptus. Vertical limb, a graduated arc attached to an instrument, as a theodolite, for measuring vertical angles. Vertical line. (a) (Dialing) A line perpendicular to the horizon. (b) (Conic Sections) A right line drawn on the vertical plane, and passing through the vertex of the cone. (c) (Surv.) The direction of a plumb line; a line normal to the surface of still water. (d) (Geom., Drawing, etc.) A line parallel to the sides of a page or sheet, in distinction from a horizontal line parallel to the top or bottom. Vertical plane. (a) (Conic Sections) A plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis. (b) (Projections) Any plane which passes through a vertical line. (c) (Persp.) The plane passing through the point of sight, and perpendicular to the ground plane, and also to the picture. Vertical sash, a sash sliding up and down. Cf. French sash, under 3d Sash. Vertical steam engine, a steam engine having the crank shaft vertically above or below a vertical cylinder.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Something that is vertical stands or points straight up. The gadget can be attached to any vertical or near vertical surface. ? horizontal ADJ • vertically Cut each bulb in half vertically. ADV: ADV after v 2. The vertical is the direction that points straight up, at an angle of 90 degrees to a flat surface. Pluto seems to have suffered a major collision that tipped it 122 degrees from the vertical. N-SING: the N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Perpendicular (to the horizon), upright, plumb.

Moby Thesaurus

abrupt, acmatic, apical, arrowlike, azimuth circle, bluff, bold, bolt upright, breakneck, capital, chief, consummate, dead straight, direct, downright, erect, even, flat, head, headlong, headmost, highest, horizontal, in a line, level, lineal, linear, maximal, maximum, meridian, meridional, normal, orthodiagonal, overmost, paramount, perpendicular, plumb, plunging, precipitous, preeminent, rampant, rapid, rearing, rectilineal, rectilinear, right, right angle, ruler-straight, sharp, sheer, smooth, stand-up, standing up, steep, straight, straight-cut, straight-front, straight-side, straight-up, streamlined, summital, supreme, tip-top, top, topmost, true, ultimate, unbending, unbent, unbowed, unbroken, uncurved, undeflected, undeviating, undistorted, uninterrupted, unswerving, unturned, up-and-down, upended, upmost, uppermost, upraised, upreared, upright, upstanding, vertical circle, zenithal