Definition of compass in English:
compass
noun ˈkʌmpəsˈkəmpəs
1An instrument containing a magnetized pointer which shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it.
walkers should be equipped with a map and compassa magnetic compassCrewe was ideally placed on the rail network, with connections running to all points of the compass- South is the least trustworthy direction on a compass.
- These are works of dry stone masonry meticulously assembled, some aligned directly with points of the compass.
- Through binoculars they're visible at all points of the compass; gawky, fragile, birdlike skeletons of metal hauling skywards monstrous slabs of concrete and steel.
- A magnetometer is a device that, like the magnet of a compass, reacts to changes in the earth's magnetic field.
- Point the binos in any direction and a digital compass takes a bearing.
- You look around at the highest peaks of the Rockies, and you're at the water epicenter of North America, where the glaciers and rivers flow to all points of the compass.
- Sailors have been comparing their compasses, which show magnetic north, to the sun and stars, which show true north, for many centuries and noting the results in logs stretching back to the year 1590.
- Letters continued to stream in from all points of the compass - 538 of them in a single day, with the temperature steadily mounting.
- This is easily determined by holding a compass near the magnet to determine if the strength of the magnet overrides the magnetic force of the poles.
- American roads also frustrated the traveller seeking to move diagonally rather than according to the four cardinal points of the compass.
- Yet there are more than two directions on a compass.
- It got me puzzling about the points of the compass.
- As a result of globalisation, many states appear to have mislaid their maps, compasses and direction-finding instruments, even the will to set a course.
- During the Cold War, nuclear danger grew to threaten all points of the compass.
- While sipping hot tea, I tweak my compass declination and draw bearing lines on our map.
- Before long, my sense of bush direction usurped the compass.
- This finding strengthened the idea that pigeons unable to see the sun rely on the earth's magnetic field as a compass.
- If we were born with magnetic detectors, the compass would never have been invented, because we wouldn't need one.
- Then, using an electronic compass and ultrasonic sensors, it cuts the area about 10 times, ensuring a minimum of missed patches.
- Often we look to the church as a moral compass for direction.
2An instrument for drawing circles and arcs and measuring distances between points, consisting of two arms linked by a movable joint, one arm ending in a point and the other usually carrying a pencil or pen.
a regular heptagon cannot be constructed accurately with only ruler and compass- Set the points of a pencil compass to the width of the widest gap between the counter top and the wall.
- We had some sturdy white board behind a cabinet, so I brought that out for him, along with a compass, yardstick, pencil, glue, and Exacto knife.
- Using a compass to create hundreds of circles in delicate works on paper, Hesse carried Minimalist repetition and seriality to the point of obsession.
- It is wonderfully satisfying to make these pictures by hand, patiently, with pencil and paper, compass and straightedge.
- A major step forward in proving that the circle could not be squared using ruler and compasses occurred in 1761 when Lambert proved that p was irrational.
- Some secondary admissions policies are geographically based literally a map and a pair of compasses; others put loyalty to local feeder schools first.
- Roughly, one measures everything with a ruler and compass and sets things up according to strict astrological correspondences.
- Underneath is a cloaked and bearded figure on all fours with a pair of compasses in one hand.
- In 1563, at the age of 17, Tycho observed a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn using a simple pair of compasses held close to his eye to measure the angle between the two planets on successive nights as the conjunction approached.
- The men lever the women into the air or slide them on pointe across the stage, their legs as rigid as a pair of compasses.
- She extended the callipers like a pair of compasses preparing to plot the landmarks on his face.
- Gauss had stated that the problems of duplicating a cube and trisecting an angle could not be solved with ruler and compasses but he gave no proofs.
- A pair of compasses was adjusted to roughly the right size radius.
- She cleared her pens into a neon pink pencil case and put her compass carefully back in her box of mathematical tools.
- Postulate she puts those on with a pair of compasses.
- In fact, the Golden Section is likely to turn up fairly frequently in any design derived from the square and developed by applying a pair of compasses.
- In the first plate of Europe, Urizen is portrayed majestically as an aged, Newtonian figure leaning down from the sun with a great pair of compasses to create the world.
- Some came armed with T-scales, drawing boards, protractors and compasses.
- Discover that despite the aid of pairs of compasses, scissors and anything else you consider useful, the most you can get in before it breaks is about 1 cm.
- We can do this using compasses for drawing circles and a set-square for drawing lines at right-angles to other lines, and we don't need a ruler at all for measuring lengths!
3in singular The range or scope of something.
the event had political repercussions which are beyond the compass of this bookgoods and services which fall within the compass of the free market- Sometimes the facts of a case may fall within the compass of both constructive and gross negligence manslaughter so that a verdict of manslaughter may be available on either of those grounds.
- The needs and expectations of the enquiring traveller change rapidly and it would be impossible to meet them all within the compass of single volumes.
- To absorb 5,000 years of a country's rich cultural past within the compass of seven days, was like delving into a honeypot and emerging in a daze.
- As philosophers or historians we treat the datum as something impersonal to be brought within the compass of our own world of thought.
- She was high in her praise of the level of organisation of last year's training sessions and suggests that reaching the decider this year is well within the compass of the minors.
- Did such matters fall within the compass of judicial review at all?
- By ‘science’ he means ‘all that can fall within the compass of human understanding’.
- The question is whether that school falls within the compass of this particular legislation.
- Extending the photograph beyond the compass of the glance into a continuum, he presents more information than a single frame could be expected to contain.
- We even relocate daybreak and sunset, which, one might surmise, are logical ways to determine the beginning and end of a given day, within the compass of clock-time.
- Can 2,000 years of church history be recorded within the compass of 200 pages?
- The matter is totally within the compass of the jury's jurisdiction to determine.
- Within the compass of faith the whole of life - indeed the whole of the universe - is embraced.
- The car stopped further back on North Terrace, probably not within the compass of the map, but at best somewhere towards that very far left-hand side of the map.
- Yet the moral of the book may be expressed within the compass of a single phrase - too much intelligence, and not enough brains.
- It is, almost, within the compass of our understanding.
- All of this, he believed, falls within the compass of science.
- No. 1 presents to us a good specimen of a general servant, one who will do anything within the compass of her capacities.
- Complete achievement of these objectives within the compass of one individual lifetime is never possible, of course, but that is not the point.
- Within the compass of these measurements, every outcome is inevitable.
scope, range, extent, reach, span, breadth, width, orbit, ambit, stretch, limits, confines, parameters, extremities, bounds, boundaryarea, field, sphere, zone, domain- 3.1 The enclosing limits of an area.this region had within its compass many types of agriculture
- Within the relatively narrow compass of Northumberland and Durham - as it must seem to us today - it might even be said that he was a great one.
boundary, border, boundary line, bound, bounding line, partition line, frontier, edge, demarcation line, end point, cut-off point, termination - 3.2 The range of notes that can be produced by a voice or a musical instrument.the cellos were playing in a rather sombre part of their compass
- The modern concert harp has 46 or 47 strings and a compass of six and a half octaves.
- As a musical instrument the singing voice has wide tonal compass and uniquely variable pitch, intensity, and stress.
verb ˈkʌmpəsˈkəmpəs
[with object]archaic 1Go round (something) in a circular course.
the ship wherein Magellan compassed the world- One of the Troopers made a patrol, compassing the property about twice an hour, while the other two were to stay in the house.
- A Brisbane City Council radiovan has just compassed the streets announcing that the water will soon be cut off, period of outage unknown.
- Raven continued turning the crank and the machine clicked and whirred as all the planets compassed about the sun on their courses.
- 1.1 Surround or hem in on all sides.we were compassed round by a thick fogsurround, enclose, ring, encircle, circumscribe, skirt, bound, border, fringe
2Contrive to accomplish (something)
he compassed his end only by the exercise of violence- Edward III defined treason as imagining and compassing the death of the king; such imagining had to be accompanied by ‘overt acts’ to qualify as treasonous.
manage, find a way, engineer a way, arrange
Origin
Middle English: from Old French compas (noun), compasser (verb), based on Latin com- 'together' + passus 'a step or pace'. Several senses ( 'measure', 'artifice', 'circumscribed area', and 'pair of compasses') which appeared in Middle English are also found in Old French, but their development and origin are uncertain. The transference of sense to the magnetic compass is held to have occurred in the related Italian word compasso, from the circular shape of the compass box.
Rhymes
encompass, rumpus
Definition of compass in US English:
compass
nounˈkəmpəsˈkəmpəs
1An instrument containing a magnetized pointer which shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it.
The use of the compass for navigation at sea was reported from China c.1100, western Europe 1187, Arabia c.1220, and Scandinavia c.1300, although it probably dates from much earlier. Since the early 20th century the magnetic compass has been superseded by the gyrocompass as primary equipment for ships and aircraft
- Sailors have been comparing their compasses, which show magnetic north, to the sun and stars, which show true north, for many centuries and noting the results in logs stretching back to the year 1590.
- A magnetometer is a device that, like the magnet of a compass, reacts to changes in the earth's magnetic field.
- As a result of globalisation, many states appear to have mislaid their maps, compasses and direction-finding instruments, even the will to set a course.
- Through binoculars they're visible at all points of the compass; gawky, fragile, birdlike skeletons of metal hauling skywards monstrous slabs of concrete and steel.
- During the Cold War, nuclear danger grew to threaten all points of the compass.
- It got me puzzling about the points of the compass.
- Yet there are more than two directions on a compass.
- Letters continued to stream in from all points of the compass - 538 of them in a single day, with the temperature steadily mounting.
- Point the binos in any direction and a digital compass takes a bearing.
- If we were born with magnetic detectors, the compass would never have been invented, because we wouldn't need one.
- Then, using an electronic compass and ultrasonic sensors, it cuts the area about 10 times, ensuring a minimum of missed patches.
- American roads also frustrated the traveller seeking to move diagonally rather than according to the four cardinal points of the compass.
- You look around at the highest peaks of the Rockies, and you're at the water epicenter of North America, where the glaciers and rivers flow to all points of the compass.
- These are works of dry stone masonry meticulously assembled, some aligned directly with points of the compass.
- Before long, my sense of bush direction usurped the compass.
- While sipping hot tea, I tweak my compass declination and draw bearing lines on our map.
- This finding strengthened the idea that pigeons unable to see the sun rely on the earth's magnetic field as a compass.
- Often we look to the church as a moral compass for direction.
- South is the least trustworthy direction on a compass.
- This is easily determined by holding a compass near the magnet to determine if the strength of the magnet overrides the magnetic force of the poles.
2An instrument for drawing circles and arcs and measuring distances between points, consisting of two arms linked by a movable joint, one arm ending in a point and the other usually carrying a pencil or pen.
- Discover that despite the aid of pairs of compasses, scissors and anything else you consider useful, the most you can get in before it breaks is about 1 cm.
- We can do this using compasses for drawing circles and a set-square for drawing lines at right-angles to other lines, and we don't need a ruler at all for measuring lengths!
- It is wonderfully satisfying to make these pictures by hand, patiently, with pencil and paper, compass and straightedge.
- Underneath is a cloaked and bearded figure on all fours with a pair of compasses in one hand.
- Some secondary admissions policies are geographically based literally a map and a pair of compasses; others put loyalty to local feeder schools first.
- Some came armed with T-scales, drawing boards, protractors and compasses.
- A pair of compasses was adjusted to roughly the right size radius.
- Using a compass to create hundreds of circles in delicate works on paper, Hesse carried Minimalist repetition and seriality to the point of obsession.
- A major step forward in proving that the circle could not be squared using ruler and compasses occurred in 1761 when Lambert proved that p was irrational.
- We had some sturdy white board behind a cabinet, so I brought that out for him, along with a compass, yardstick, pencil, glue, and Exacto knife.
- The men lever the women into the air or slide them on pointe across the stage, their legs as rigid as a pair of compasses.
- Gauss had stated that the problems of duplicating a cube and trisecting an angle could not be solved with ruler and compasses but he gave no proofs.
- Postulate she puts those on with a pair of compasses.
- In 1563, at the age of 17, Tycho observed a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn using a simple pair of compasses held close to his eye to measure the angle between the two planets on successive nights as the conjunction approached.
- In fact, the Golden Section is likely to turn up fairly frequently in any design derived from the square and developed by applying a pair of compasses.
- Set the points of a pencil compass to the width of the widest gap between the counter top and the wall.
- She cleared her pens into a neon pink pencil case and put her compass carefully back in her box of mathematical tools.
- In the first plate of Europe, Urizen is portrayed majestically as an aged, Newtonian figure leaning down from the sun with a great pair of compasses to create the world.
- She extended the callipers like a pair of compasses preparing to plot the landmarks on his face.
- Roughly, one measures everything with a ruler and compass and sets things up according to strict astrological correspondences.
3in singular The range or scope of something.
the event had political repercussions that are beyond the compass of this book- Sometimes the facts of a case may fall within the compass of both constructive and gross negligence manslaughter so that a verdict of manslaughter may be available on either of those grounds.
- The needs and expectations of the enquiring traveller change rapidly and it would be impossible to meet them all within the compass of single volumes.
- She was high in her praise of the level of organisation of last year's training sessions and suggests that reaching the decider this year is well within the compass of the minors.
- It is, almost, within the compass of our understanding.
- The question is whether that school falls within the compass of this particular legislation.
- To absorb 5,000 years of a country's rich cultural past within the compass of seven days, was like delving into a honeypot and emerging in a daze.
- The car stopped further back on North Terrace, probably not within the compass of the map, but at best somewhere towards that very far left-hand side of the map.
- We even relocate daybreak and sunset, which, one might surmise, are logical ways to determine the beginning and end of a given day, within the compass of clock-time.
- Can 2,000 years of church history be recorded within the compass of 200 pages?
- Complete achievement of these objectives within the compass of one individual lifetime is never possible, of course, but that is not the point.
- As philosophers or historians we treat the datum as something impersonal to be brought within the compass of our own world of thought.
- All of this, he believed, falls within the compass of science.
- Within the compass of these measurements, every outcome is inevitable.
- The matter is totally within the compass of the jury's jurisdiction to determine.
- Yet the moral of the book may be expressed within the compass of a single phrase - too much intelligence, and not enough brains.
- By ‘science’ he means ‘all that can fall within the compass of human understanding’.
- Did such matters fall within the compass of judicial review at all?
- Within the compass of faith the whole of life - indeed the whole of the universe - is embraced.
- No. 1 presents to us a good specimen of a general servant, one who will do anything within the compass of her capacities.
- Extending the photograph beyond the compass of the glance into a continuum, he presents more information than a single frame could be expected to contain.
scope, range, extent, reach, span, breadth, width, orbit, ambit, stretch, limits, confines, parameters, extremities, bounds, boundary- 3.1 The enclosing limits of an area.this region had within its compass many types of agriculture
- Within the relatively narrow compass of Northumberland and Durham - as it must seem to us today - it might even be said that he was a great one.
boundary, border, boundary line, bound, bounding line, partition line, frontier, edge, demarcation line, end point, cut-off point, termination - 3.2 The range of notes that can be produced by a voice or a musical instrument.the cellos were playing in a rather somber part of their compass
- As a musical instrument the singing voice has wide tonal compass and uniquely variable pitch, intensity, and stress.
- The modern concert harp has 46 or 47 strings and a compass of six and a half octaves.
verbˈkəmpəsˈkəmpəs
[with object]archaic 1Go around (something) in a circular course.
the ship wherein Magellan compassed the world- A Brisbane City Council radiovan has just compassed the streets announcing that the water will soon be cut off, period of outage unknown.
- Raven continued turning the crank and the machine clicked and whirred as all the planets compassed about the sun on their courses.
- One of the Troopers made a patrol, compassing the property about twice an hour, while the other two were to stay in the house.
- 1.1 Surround or enclose on all sides.they were compassed with numerous fierce and cruel tribessurround, enclose, ring, encircle, circumscribe, skirt, bound, border, fringe
2Contrive to accomplish (something)
he compassed his end only by the exercise of violence- Edward III defined treason as imagining and compassing the death of the king; such imagining had to be accompanied by ‘overt acts’ to qualify as treasonous.
manage, find a way, engineer a way, arrange
Origin
Middle English: from Old French compas (noun), compasser (verb), based on Latin com- ‘together’ + passus ‘a step or pace’. Several senses (‘measure’, ‘artifice’, ‘circumscribed area’, and ‘pair of compasses’) which appeared in Middle English are also found in Old French, but their development and origin are uncertain. The transference of sense to the magnetic compass is held to have occurred in the related Italian word compasso, from the circular shape of the compass box.