| Library / English Dictionary |
VERTICAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A vertical structural member as a post or stake
Example:
the ball sailed between the uprights
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("vertical" is a kind of...):
structural member (support that is a constituent part of any structure or building)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vertical"):
column; pillar ((architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure)
jamb (upright consisting of a vertical side member of a door or window frame)
post (an upright consisting of a piece of timber or metal fixed firmly in an upright position)
scantling; stud (an upright in house framing)
scape; shaft ((architecture) upright consisting of the vertical part of a column)
stile (an upright that is a member in a door or window frame)
Holonyms ("vertical" is a part of...):
goalpost (one of a pair of posts (usually joined by a crossbar) that are set up as a goal at each end of a playing field)
Derivation:
vertical (at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line)
vertical (upright in position or posture)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Something that is oriented vertically
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("vertical" is a kind of...):
orientation (position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions)
Derivation:
vertical (at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of or relating to different levels in a hierarchy (as levels of social class or income group)
Example:
vertical social mobility
Classified under:
Similar:
hierarchal; hierarchic; hierarchical (classified according to various criteria into successive levels or layers)
Sense 2
Meaning:
At right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line
Example:
measure the perpendicular height
Synonyms:
perpendicular; vertical
Classified under:
Similar:
unsloped; upright (in a vertical position; not sloping)
upended (turned up on end)
plumb (exactly vertical)
Also:
steep (having a sharp inclination)
straight (having no deviations)
Attribute:
orientation (position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions)
Antonym:
horizontal (parallel to or in the plane of the horizon or a base line)
inclined (at an angle to the horizontal or vertical position)
Derivation:
vertical (a vertical structural member as a post or stake)
vertical (something that is oriented vertically)
verticality; verticalness (position at right angles to the horizon)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Upright in position or posture
Example:
he sat bolt upright
Synonyms:
erect; upright; vertical
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
straight; unbent; unbowed (erect in posture)
statant (standing on four feet)
stand-up (requiring a standing position)
standing (having a supporting base)
semi-upright (of animals that are partly erect)
semi-erect (of plants that are partly erect)
semi-climbing (of plants that are semi-climbers)
rampant; rearing (rearing on left hind leg with forelegs elevated and head usually in profile)
passant (in walking position with right foreleg raised)
orthostatic (pertaining to an upright standing posture)
fastigiate (having clusters of erect branches (often appearing to form a single column))
erectile (capable of being raised to an upright position)
Attribute:
attitude; position; posture (the arrangement of the body and its limbs)
Derivation:
vertical (a vertical structural member as a post or stake)
verticalness (position at right angles to the horizon)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Relating to or involving all stages of a business from production to distribution
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
vertical integration (absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution)
Derivation:
vertical integration (absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution)
Context examples:
Vertical strabismus in which there is permanent upward deviation of the visual axis of one eye.
(Hypertropia, NCI Thesaurus)
Vertical ridges are usually not associated with underlying disorders and tend to become more pronounced with age.
(Nail Ridging, NCI Thesaurus)
White spots and vertical ridges are harmless.
(Nail Diseases, NIH)
The measurement in millimeters of the vertical thickness of primary cutaneous melanoma.
(Breslow thickness, NCI Thesaurus)
“We can best explain this surprising result with high vertical winds within the atmosphere preventing the carbon monoxide from reacting with hydrogen to form methane.”
(GRAVITY instrument breaks new ground in exoplanet imaging, ESO)
The viruses have a widespread distribution and include both exogenous (vertical and horizontal transmission) and endogenous viruses of chickens and some other birds.
(Alpharetrovirus, NCI Thesaurus)
The clouds that generate storms have a vertical development that can reach 6,000 meters high.
(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)
The results are providing real-time information, such as vertical wind profiles, to firefighters battling blazes.
(Researchers discover how wildfires create their own weather, National Science Foundation)
"Airplanes have a vertical tail to orient stably into the wind," said Lentink.
(Scientists discover how birds navigate crosswinds, National Science Foundation)
His majesty had given orders, that the island should move north-east and by east, to the vertical point over Lagado, the metropolis of the whole kingdom below, upon the firm earth.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
