upright in position or posture; "an erect stature"; "erect flower stalks"; "for a dog, an erect tail indicates aggression"; "a column still vertical amid the ruins"; "he sat bolt upright"
the profession or art of a writer; "her place in literature is secure"
the humanistic study of a body of literature; "he took a course in Russian lit"
creative writing of recognized artistic value
published writings in a particular style on a particular subject; "the technical literature"; "one aspect of Waterloo has not yet been treated in the literature"
the body of members of an organization or group; "they polled their membership"; "they found dissension in their own ranks"; "he joined the ranks of the unemployed"
the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate states or colonies or provinces so that each member retains the management of its internal affairs
an organization formed by merging several groups or parties