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erection

American  
[ih-rek-shuhn] / ɪˈrɛk ʃən /

noun

  • erections
    plural
  1. the act of erecting.

  2. the state of being erected.

  3. something erected, as a building or other structure.

  4. Physiology. a distended and rigid state of an organ or part containing erectile tissue, especially of the penis or the clitoris.


erection British  
/ ɪˈrɛkʃən /

noun

  1. the act of erecting or the state of being erected

  2. something that has been erected; a building or construction

  3. physiol the enlarged state or condition of erectile tissues or organs, esp the penis, when filled with blood

  4. an erect penis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of erection

First recorded in 1495–1505, erection is from the Late Latin word ērēctiōn- (stem of ērēctiō ). See erect, -ion


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

One key statute forbids the erection of any building or structure on federal grounds in the District of Columbia without express permission from Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Dr. Sarah Furness, the Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland, commissioned the statue's erection after the queen's death.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024

First class allowed families to select a site anywhere in the cemetery and, for an additional cost, the erection of a permanent memorial.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2023

The erection of several wind turbines is viewed by the Golan villagers as an encroachment.

From Reuters ● Jun. 21, 2023

The erection of Sing Sing offered a spectacle of total control.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

A few decades earlier, Chicago homebuilders began using a technique called “balloon-frame construction,” replacing cumbersome erections of beams and joists with rapidly built skeletons of precut lumber and nails.

From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2018

For instance, some men become impotent after surgery for prostate or rectal cancer because the nerves that regulate erections, which run through the rectum and prostate into the centre of the penis, can get damaged.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 4, 2014

That is convincing evidence that the birds' erections are controlled by the lymph system, the researchers say.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 8, 2011

In the men who were potent before treatment, 52 percent reported problems with erections two years after treatment.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2011

The surrounding buildings are not now, as in many cathedral cities, the residences of Dean and Canons, quaint and mediaeval, with stone mullioned windows and ivy-covered walls, but modern erections, shops, and warehouses, and hotels.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Manchester A Short History and Description of the Church and of the Collegiate Buildings now known as Chetham's Hospital by Rev. Thomas Perkins

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