# vertical

Pronunciation: say "VUR-ti-kuhl" US /ˈvɝ.tɪ.kəl/, UK /ˈvɜː.tɪ.kəl/

## Adjective

1. Standing, pointing, or moving straight up and down, in line with the pull of gravity or a plumb line.
   - Simple: Standing, pointing, or moving straight up and down, like a standing pole.
   - _The cliff face rose in a nearly vertical wall of rock._
   - _Engineers checked that the support beams were truly vertical._
2. Describing the y-axis on a graph, running up and down at right angles to the horizontal x-axis.
   - Simple: Going straight up and down on a graph, at right angles to the side-to-side line.
   - _Plot time along the bottom and temperature up the vertical axis._
   - _The vertical coordinate tells you how far up each point sits._
3. Describing the z-axis in three dimensions, running at right angles to the flat xy-plane.
   - Simple: Going straight up and down in 3D space, at right angles to the flat ground plane.
   - _The vertical axis measures height above the base plane._
   - _Designers rotate the shape around its vertical axis._
7. Relating to a single specific industry or customer group rather than many.
   - Simple: Made for one particular industry or type of customer.
   - _The company shifted to a vertical strategy aimed solely at law firms._
   - _Vertical marketing campaigns target the needs of a single sector._
10. Describing a musical interval whose two notes sound at the same time rather than one after another.
   - Simple: Describing two notes that are played at the same time.
   - _The chord stacks a vertical third above the bass note._
   - _Analysts marked every vertical interval in the opening measure._
11. Describing a wine tasting that compares several vintages of the same wine from one winery.
   - Simple: Comparing different years of the same wine from one maker.
   - _The winery hosted a vertical tasting spanning two decades of its flagship cabernet._
   - _A vertical flight let guests trace the vineyard's evolution vintage by vintage._

## Noun

4. A straight up-and-down line or figure; a perpendicular.
   - Simple: A line that goes straight up and down.
   - _The architect dropped a vertical from the roofline to mark the wall's edge._
   - _Each vertical in the diagram represents a load-bearing line._
5. An upright structural component, running straight up and down.
   - Simple: An up-and-down part of a building or frame, like an upright post.
   - _The bridge's main verticals carry the deck's weight down to the piers._
   - _Workers welded a new vertical into the damaged frame._
6. A market made up of companies serving one specific industry or group of customers.
   - Simple: A group of businesses that all serve the same industry or type of customer.
   - _The firm dominates the healthcare vertical but barely competes elsewhere._
   - _Each vertical demands its own sales approach and product features._
8. A vertex or the zenith; the highest point, or the point directly overhead.
   - Simple: The highest point of something, or the point straight overhead.
   - _At noon the sun stood almost at the vertical, casting almost no shadow._
   - _Astronomers measured the comet's angle away from the vertical._
9. A single slat in a set of vertical blinds.
   - Simple: One of the long flat strips in an up-and-down window blind.
   - _A broken vertical left a gap that let in the morning light._
   - _He replaced two cracked verticals on the office blinds._
12. A top-down command structure used to exercise political power.
   - Simple: A top-down chain of command used to control political power.
   - _Critics warned that the new vertical concentrated too much authority in one office._
   - _The reforms strengthened the vertical, tying every governor to the central leadership._

## Origin

Borrowed from Middle French vertical, which comes from the Late Latin verticalis.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/vertical (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).