Vertical

a. [Fr., Sp., & Pg. vertical, It. verticale, N. Lat. verticalis. See supra.]

1Sense 1. Situated at the vertex, or highest point; directly over head, or in the zenith; perpendicularly above one. “Charity itself, which is the vertical top of all religion.” Bp. Taylor.

2Sense 2. Perpendicular to the plane of the horizon; upright; plumb.

Prime vertical. See PRIME. — 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 terminate the filaments, and, being inserted by their base, stand no less upright than the filaments themselves. — Vertical circle (Astron.), a great circle passing through the zenith and the nadir. The meridian of any place is a vertical circle. The vertical circles are called also azimuth circles. — Vertical fire (Mil.), the fire, as of mortars, under high angles of elevation. — Vertical leaves (Bot.), such leaves as stand so erect that neither of the surfaces can be appropriately called the upper or under. — Vertical limb of an instrument, the graduated arc used for measuring vertical angles, as in a theodolite. — 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. — Vertical plane. (a.) (Conic Sections.) A plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis. (b.) (Projections.) Any plane passing 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.