Definition of "erection" in English

noun

1. (uncountable) The act of building or putting up or together of something.

2. (countable) Anything erected or built.

   • The Empire State Building was once the world's tallest erection.

3. (uncountable or countable, ecclesiastical) Formal approval and official establishment of an institution such as a society or a monastery by higher church authorities.

4. (uncountable, physiology) The physiological process by which erectile tissue, such as a penis or clitoris, becomes erect by being engorged with blood.

   • There are men who say they cannot bear to show themselves naked before women unless in a state of erection; and indeed through erection the flesh becomes activity, potency, […]

5. (uncountable, physiology, of a penis or clitoris) The state or quality of being erect from engorgement with blood.

6. (countable) A penis or clitoris that is erect.

   • He placed his newspaper on his lap to hide his erection.