How to Use erect in a Sentence

erect

1 of 2 adjective
  • She sat erect, listening for her name.
  • Lily stood erect and silent, waiting for her part in the hunt.
    — Delbert L. Chears, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Its growth habit is more erect and less spreading than that of lemonade berry.
    — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 15 Nov. 2025
  • Thanks for that last shot of a fully erect Tommy.
    — William Earl, Variety, 28 Dec. 2025
  • The chickens stomp with swift feet like an Irish step dancer, keeping their tails erect and wings drooped.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Someday, a human-sized version might even be able erect habitats in space.
    — Laura Yan, Popular Mechanics, 22 July 2018
  • Both species are annuals that have long, slender leaves and hollow, erect stems.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Mar. 2026
  • With its front two paws in the air, back erect, the creature looks from side to side across a crowd of zoo visitors.
    — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Aug. 2023
  • The report details that Combs was erect, did not ejaculate and left the room.
    — Danielle Bacher, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
  • The flowers, which are shaped like a snapping turtle’s head, are held on erect stems flanked with leathery green leaves.
    — Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 June 2025
  • Carlin said, as soldiers need to guide their horses while keeping erect posture.
    — Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today, 27 May 2025
  • The solitary daisy-like golden yellow flowers emerge from slender, erect stems.
    — Jamie McIntosh, The Spruce, 5 May 2026
  • Many use social media to call for an end to the violence, then erect memorials at the site of the shooting.
    — David Clarey, jsonline.com, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The guardians stand erect, with arms crossed at their chests and relief-like musculature superimposed on their bodies.
    — Melissa Harris, Artforum, 10 July 2025
  • Several of these little women are erect, and others are recumbent; one stands on her head while a few look like they’ve been captured in mid-leap.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2023
  • For total protection, erect metal or polypropylene deer fencing around the plant to prevent them from entering.
    — Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Their makeup includes abstract graphics painted above and below their eyes, and two of their pink braids stand erect on top of their head, molded into the shape of a heart.
    — Cassidy George, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2023
  • Hay alleged Combs was erect, further claiming that Combs did not ejaculate before leaving the room.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 18 Nov. 2025
  • Volunteers prepare the boots by carefully tying each lace and placing an empty water bottle inside each boot to keep it erect.
    — Fox News, 5 Aug. 2021
  • Botanically speaking, roses are erect, climbing or trailing shrubs.
    — Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Oct. 2023
  • Plants add stunning texture and shining color to the garden with metallic, lavender-blue bracts surrounding flowers that stand erect on purple stems.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 6 June 2025
  • The 5-7 Stanhope runs with erect posture and striking fluidity.
    — David Woods, Indianapolis Star, 15 May 2018
  • An erect, sprawling, and spineless cactus, the flowers are white, fragrant, and measure 12 inches long and 8 inches wide.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 15 June 2025
  • Now, many more state, local and private entities, each with their own policies and processes, regularly erect markers.
    — John Garrison Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Sep. 2023
  • This hybrid of two European/Asian species grows to be an almost architectural plant to about 5-feet tall with narrow, erect shape.
    — Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 1 June 2018
  • One is correctly seated at the table when the figure is erect but not rigid, not self-consciously tense; feet firmly on the floor; elbows off the table; left hand in the lap when it is not engaged.
    — Dan Danbom, The Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2019
  • These types of restrictions allegedly suppress team earnings and erect barriers to entry for any rival to the Cup Series.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 25 Nov. 2025
  • According to the woman Hernandez became erect while touching her back and stomach, then covered himself with a pillow, the affidavit read.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Feb. 2026
  • This one is dual-density, with a soft silicone exterior and firmer core, simulating the actual feeling of an erect phallus.
    — WIRED, 27 July 2023
  • Identifying the culprit Poison ivy can grow as a self-supporting erect woody shrub, but its usual growth habit is as a slender vine running along the ground or growing on trees, shrubs and even rock walls and other landscape features.
    — Mike Hogan, The Enquirer, 28 May 2023

erect

2 of 2 verb
  • They erected a marker over the grave.
  • The city erected a statue in his honor.
  • Tree houses were erected and roads blocked off.
    — Robert Moor, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • The head, erect, was up a country metre.
    — John McPhee, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
  • This is not the very last stretch of border fencing to be erected.
    — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Others erected makeshift tents or simply lay at the edge of the street.
    — Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Jan. 2024
  • Look, the farmer has erected a wild west boomtown out of plywood.
    — Frederick Dreier, Outside, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Today’s battle may be over erecting a stop sign.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Caltrans will erect and maintain the sign for seven years.
    — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 6 Jan. 2026
  • Lampshade erected, she and Fear, once again, move on.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 15 Apr. 2026
  • There were a few bamboo structures erected there.
    — Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Contracts show the cost to erect the site topped $100 million.
    — Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Many of these people are now sleeping in tents hastily erected on the rocky ground.
    — Raf Sanchez, NBC News, 13 Sep. 2023
  • Ages ago, their Greek owners even erected tombs in their honor.
    — Nicole Letts, Southern Living, 15 Sep. 2023
  • That’s the same year that the Hollywood sign was erected.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2025
  • But perhaps the largest roadblock for that process could be one erected by city leaders.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Three ladders were erected, and firefighters were seen on the roof of the home.
    — Tom Dougherty, CBS News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • The end of a building erected in the 1940s?
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Locks were installed, fences were erected and entrances were boarded up.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 11 June 2026
  • The first is a story about the dream of a city that sets out to erect a single building as high as the heavens.
    — Nathan Schneider, The Conversation, 26 May 2026
  • The first is a story about the dream of a city that sets out to erect a single building as high as the heavens.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 30 May 2026
  • The new mural will be erected on a 12-foot wall at the park where the Stars played.
    — Nate Sylves, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2026
  • It was erected at the westernmost entrance to the city of Tehran.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Another had a mossy headpiece with wire erecting green and platinum hair balls.
    — Essence, 4 May 2026
  • But by the time the rubber plant was erected, the worst of the pandemic and glove shortages had passed.
    — Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Also, new signs will be erected in town alerting e-scooter and e-bike riders of the laws.
    — Jesse Wright, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
  • They are pulled down and in their stead shops, warehouses, and public buildings are erected.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2025
  • And the scaffold, still erected, in the Tower Green.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • But for now, governments have pushed forward to erect barriers against this.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 19 Nov. 2023
  • Workers erected a stage in the middle of the rainforest.
    — John Otis, NPR, 21 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'erect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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