Vertical
Vertical , adjective
[Compare French 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.
2.
Perpendicular to the plane of the horizon; upright; plumb; as, a vertical line.
Collocations (11)
Vertical angle (Astronomy & 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 (Botany) , such anthers as stand erect at the top of the filaments.
Vertical drill , an upright drill. See under Upright.
Vertical fire (Military) , the fire, as of mortars, at high angles of elevation.
Vertical leaves (Botany) , 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 (Dialing) , A line perpendicular to the horizon. A right line drawn on the vertical plane, and passing through the vertex of the cone. The direction of a plumb line; a line normal to the surface of still water. 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 (Conic Sections) , A plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis. Any plane which passes through a vertical line. 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. Compare French sash, under 3d Sash.
Vertical steam engine , a steam engine having the crank shaft vertically above or below a vertical cylinder.
Vertical , noun
1.
Vertical position; zenith. [Rare]
2.
(Mathematics) A vertical line, plane, or circle.
Collocations (1)
Prime vertical or Prime vertical dial , See under Prime, a.