vertical Hear it!

vertical Definition

ver·ti·cal (vʉr′ti kəl)

adjective

  1. of, at, or in the vertex or zenith
    1. perpendicular, or at a right angle, to the plane of the horizon; upright, straight up or down, etc.
    2. at a right angle to the plane of the supporting surface
  3. at, or made up of elements at, different levels, as of industrial production and distribution or of social status
  4. Anat., Zool. of the vertex of the head
  5. Biol. in the direction in which the axis lies; lengthwise

Etymology: Fr < LL verticalis < L vertex (gen. verticis): see vertex

noun

  1. a vertical line, plane, circle, etc.
  2. upright position

vertical Related Forms
ver′·ti·cal′·ity (-kal′ə tē) noun ver′·ti·cally adverb
vertical Synonyms

vertical

modif.

perpendicular, plumb, upright, upward, erect, on end, cocked up, straight up.

vertical Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • keep: This kept the cage vertical in the water column.
  • hold: Hold the cassette vertical and at 90° to the primary beam.

Modifies a noun

  • axis: For example you might want to label the vertical axis of a graph or make a title screen more interesting.
  • plane: Now for why the ice crystals remain in a vertical plane.
  • stripe: Clothes with vertical stripes make you look slimmer too.
  • shaft: The main pit was a vertical shaft like a lift shaft.
  • integration: At the same time, vertical integration is part of the JCB philosophy.
  • alignment: Add vertical alignment ( like in bad old table cells ) to the wish list!

Modifying Another Word

  • nearly: The exposure here is daunting and the climbing is very steep indeed ( nearly vertical for some moves ).
  • almost: Narrower frames at the rear mean the drive side spokes are almost vertical in path up to the rim.
  • perfectly: The frame has to be perfectly vertical so the blade falls smoothly ( more energy for impact that way ).
  • quite: It even had the cheeky bulge halfway up and the rest was quite vertical.
  • only: Apply only vertical force at the free end of the strip using an index finger.
  • not: Away from Ground Zero the magnetic field lines are not vertical.

Noun used with modifier

  • industry: Axon is totally focussed on a small number of industry verticals allowing us to tailor our implementations to the specific needs of that vertical.

Used with adjective complement

  • go: Keep this in line with the other two rectangles and make sure the stripes of the paper are going vertical.
  • become: The motif is no longer diachronic; in Quadrant II time is frozen and the motif becomes vertical, going downwards.
  • get: At this point things get vertical with the second, third, fourth and fifth pitches following in quick succession.
  • have: The front bogie and rear truck have vertical play, and the rear driver also has vertical springing.

Preposition: of

  • tree: Moss - very important low planting to offset the verticals of trees.