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.
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.
Hear it pronounced