01 a. Of or pertaining to the vertex; situated at the vertex, or highest point; directly overhead, or in the zenith; perpendicularly above one.
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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.
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2.
Perpendicular to the plane of the horizon; upright; plumb; as, a vertical line.
Phrases & compounds
Vertical angle —
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 —
such anthers as stand erect at the top of the filaments.
Vertical circle —
an azimuth circle. See under Azimuth.
Vertical drill —
an upright drill. See under Upright.
Vertical fire —
the fire, as of mortars, at high angles of elevation.
Vertical leaves —
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 line perpendicular to the horizon.
Vertical plane —
A plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis.
Vertical steam engine —
a steam engine having the crank shaft vertically above or below a vertical cylinder.