'Compass' definitions:
Definition of 'compass'
(from WordNet)
noun
Navigational instrument for finding directions
noun
An area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "a piano has a greater range than the human voice"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power" [syn: scope, range, reach, orbit, compass, ambit]
noun
noun
Drafting instrument used for drawing circles
verb
Bring about; accomplish; "This writer attempts more than his talents can compass"
verb
Travel around, either by plane or ship; "We compassed the earth" [syn: circumnavigate, compass]
verb
Get the meaning of something; "Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?" [syn: grok, get the picture, comprehend, savvy, dig, grasp, compass, apprehend]
Definition of 'Compass'
From: GCIDE
- Compass \Com"pass\ (k[u^]m"pas), n. [F. compas, fr. LL. compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus pace, step. See Pace, Pass.]
- 1. A passing round; circuit; circuitous course. [1913 Webster]
- They fetched a compass of seven day's journey. --2 Kings iii. 9. [1913 Webster]
- This day I breathed first; time is come round, And where I did begin, there shall I end; My life is run his compass. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 2. An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall. [1913 Webster]
- 3. An inclosed space; an area; extent. [1913 Webster]
- Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination. [1913 Webster]
- The compass of his argument. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; -- used with within. [1913 Webster]
- In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed. --Sir J. Davies. [1913 Webster]
- 6. (Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument. [1913 Webster]
- You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 7. An instrument for determining directions upon the earth's surface by means of a magnetized bar or needle turning freely upon a pivot and pointing in a northerly and southerly direction. [1913 Webster]
- He that first discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
- 8. A pair of compasses. [R.] See Compasses.
- To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- 9. A circle; a continent. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- The tryne compas [the threefold world containing earth, sea, and heaven. --Skeat.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Azimuth compass. See under Azimuth.
- Beam compass. See under Beam.
- Compass card, the circular card attached to the needles of a mariner's compass, on which are marked the thirty-two points or rhumbs.
- Compass dial, a small pocket compass fitted with a sundial to tell the hour of the day.
- Compass plane (Carp.), a plane, convex in the direction of its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave faces of curved woodwork.
- Compass plant, Compass flower (Bot.), a plant of the American prairies (Silphium laciniatum), not unlike a small sunflower; rosinweed. Its lower and root leaves are vertical, and on the prairies are disposed to present their edges north and south. [1913 Webster]
- Its leaves are turned to the north as true as the magnet: This is the compass flower. --Longefellow.
- Compass saw, a saw with a narrow blade, which will cut in a curve; -- called also fret saw and keyhole saw.
- Compass timber (Shipbuilding), curved or crooked timber.
- Compass window (Arch.), a circular bay window or oriel window.
- Mariner's compass, a kind of compass used in navigation. It has two or more magnetic needles permanently attached to a card, which moves freely upon a pivot, and is read with reference to a mark on the box representing the ship's head. The card is divided into thirty-two points, called also rhumbs, and the glass-covered box or bowl containing it is suspended in gimbals within the binnacle, in order to preserve its horizontal position.
- Surveyor's compass, an instrument used in surveying for measuring horizontal angles. See Circumferentor.
- Variation compass, a compass of delicate construction, used in observations on the variations of the needle.
- To fetch a compass, to make a circuit. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Compass'
From: GCIDE
- Compass \Com"pass\ (k[u^]m"pas), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compassed (k[u^]m"past); p. pr. & vb. n. Compassing.] [F. compasser, LL. compassare.]
- 1. To go about or entirely round; to make the circuit of. [1913 Webster]
- Ye shall compass the city seven times. --Josh. vi. 4. [1913 Webster]
- We the globe can compass soon. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To inclose on all sides; to surround; to encircle; to environ; to invest; to besiege; -- used with about, round, around, and round about. [1913 Webster]
- With terrors and with clamors compassed round. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- Now all the blessings Of a glad father compass thee about. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round. --Luke xix. 43. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To reach round; to circumvent; to get within one's power; to obtain; to accomplish. [1913 Webster]
- If I can check my erring love, I will: If not, to compass her I'll use my skill. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- How can you hope to compass your designs? --Denham. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To curve; to bend into a circular form. [Obs. except in carpentry and shipbuilding.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 5. (Law) To purpose; to intend; to imagine; to plot. [1913 Webster]
- Compassing and imagining the death of the king are synonymous terms; compassing signifying the purpose or design of the mind or will, and not, as in common speech, the carrying such design to effect. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'compass'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accept,
- accomplish,
- achieve,
- acquire,
- aesthetic distance,
- alentours,
- ambience,
- ambit,
- amount,
- annex,
- attain,
- beleaguer,
- beset,
- besiege,
- blockade,
- border line,
- borderlands,
- bound,
- boundaries,
- boundary,
- boundary condition,
- boundary line,
- bounds,
- bourn,
- bourns,
- box in,
- break boundary,
- breakoff point,
- bring off,
- bring through,
- cage,
- caliber,
- calipers,
- carry,
- carry off,
- catch,
- ceiling,
- chain,
- chamber,
- chromatic scale,
- circle,
- circuit,
- circuiteer,
- circulate,
- circumambiencies,
- circumambulate,
- circumference,
- circumjacencies,
- circummigrate,
- circumnavigate,
- circumscription,
- circumstances,
- circumvent,
- clearance,
- close,
- close in,
- close the circle,
- come full circle,
- compass about,
- comprehend,
- confine,
- confines,
- consummate,
- contain,
- context,
- coop,
- coop in,
- coop up,
- coordinates,
- cordon,
- cordon off,
- corral,
- crown with success,
- cut,
- cutoff,
- cutoff point,
- cycle,
- deadline,
- deal with,
- deep space,
- degree,
- delimitation,
- depths of space,
- describe a circle,
- determinant,
- dial,
- diapason,
- dig,
- dipstick,
- direction finder,
- discharge,
- dispatch,
- dispose of,
- distance,
- divergence,
- dividers,
- division line,
- do,
- do the job,
- do the trick,
- dodecuple scale,
- domain,
- edges,
- effect,
- effectuate,
- embay,
- embosom,
- embrace,
- enact,
- encircle,
- enclasp,
- enclose,
- enclosure,
- encompass,
- end,
- enfold,
- enharmonic scale,
- enshrine,
- entourage,
- envelop,
- environ,
- environing circumstances,
- environment,
- environs,
- enwrap,
- execute,
- extension,
- extent,
- extremity,
- farness,
- feeler gauge,
- fence in,
- fetch,
- field,
- finish,
- flank,
- floor,
- foot rule,
- fringes,
- frontier,
- fulfill,
- gain,
- gamut,
- gauge block,
- gestalt,
- get,
- get by,
- gird,
- girdle,
- girdle the globe,
- go about,
- go around,
- go round,
- go the round,
- goniometer,
- grade,
- gradiometer,
- graduated scale,
- grasp,
- great scale,
- gyre,
- gyrocompass,
- gyroscopic compass,
- Gyrosin compass,
- gyrostatic compass,
- habitat,
- have,
- hedge,
- hedge in,
- height,
- hem,
- hem in,
- high-water mark,
- house in,
- impound,
- imprison,
- incarcerate,
- include,
- inertial navigation system,
- infinity,
- interface,
- interval,
- invest,
- involve,
- jail,
- Johansson block,
- kennel,
- knock off,
- land,
- lap,
- leaguer,
- leap,
- leeway,
- length,
- level,
- light-years,
- limen,
- limit,
- limitation,
- limitations,
- limiting factor,
- limits,
- line,
- line of demarcation,
- log,
- log line,
- loran,
- low-water mark,
- lower limit,
- magnetic compass,
- magnetic needle,
- major scale,
- make,
- make a circuit,
- manage,
- march,
- marches,
- margin,
- mark,
- measure,
- melodic minor,
- mete,
- meterstick,
- metes,
- metes and bounds,
- mew,
- mew up,
- micrometer,
- mileage,
- milieu,
- minor scale,
- needle,
- neighborhood,
- notch,
- nuance,
- obtain,
- octant,
- octave scale,
- orbit,
- outlines,
- outposts,
- outskirts,
- pale,
- parameters,
- parsecs,
- pas,
- peg,
- pen,
- pen in,
- pentatonic scale,
- perform,
- perimeter,
- period,
- periphery,
- perspective,
- piece,
- pitch,
- plane,
- plateau,
- plumb,
- plumb rule,
- pocket,
- point,
- polish off,
- precincts,
- procure,
- produce,
- proportion,
- protractor,
- pull off,
- purlieus,
- purview,
- put away,
- put over,
- put through,
- quadrant,
- quarantine,
- radio compass,
- radio direction finder,
- radius,
- rail in,
- range,
- ratio,
- RDF,
- reach,
- realize,
- register,
- remoteness,
- remove,
- restriction,
- revolve,
- ring,
- rod,
- round,
- rule,
- ruler,
- rung,
- scale,
- scope,
- sector,
- secure,
- see,
- separation,
- set square,
- sextant,
- shade,
- shadow,
- shoran,
- shrine,
- shut in,
- shut up,
- situation,
- skirt,
- skirts,
- space,
- span,
- spectrum,
- sphere,
- spiral,
- spirit level,
- square,
- stable,
- stair,
- standard,
- start,
- starting line,
- starting point,
- step,
- stint,
- stretch,
- stride,
- suburbs,
- succeed,
- surround,
- surroundings,
- sweep,
- T square,
- take care of,
- take in,
- tape,
- tape measure,
- tapeline,
- target date,
- temperament,
- term,
- terminal date,
- terminus,
- theodolite,
- threshold,
- time allotment,
- total environment,
- transit,
- transit theodolite,
- tread,
- try square,
- tuning,
- turn the trick,
- twig,
- understand,
- upper limit,
- verges,
- vernier,
- vernier caliper,
- vicinage,
- vicinity,
- wall in,
- way,
- ways,
- wheel,
- whole-tone scale,
- win,
- work,
- work out,
- wrap,
- yard,
- yard up,
- yardstick
Words containing 'Compass'
- Compassable,
- Compassed,
- Compasses,
- Compassing,
- Compassion,
- Azimuth compass,
- Beam compass,
- Bow compasses,
- Caliber compasses,
- Caliper compasses,
- Compass card,
- Compass dial,
- Compass flower,
- Compass plane,
- Compass plant,
- Compass saw,
- Compass timber,
- Compass window,
- Declination compass,
- Declination of the compass,
- Deviation of the compass,
- Elliptic compasses,
- Hair compass,
- Hanging compass,
- Inclination compass,
- Mariner's compass,
- Points of the compass,
- Prismatic compass,
- Sea compass,
- Surveyor's compass,
- To box the compass,
- To fetch a compass,
- To set by the compass,
- Transit compass,
- Triangular compasses,
- Variation compass,
- Vernier compass,
- compass board,
- compass north,
- compass point,
- magnetic compass,
- radio compass,
- Bow-compass,
- Bow-compasses,
- cardinal compass point,
- scales compasses dividers,
- watch clock compass card etc