Compass
Compass (kum"pas) , noun
[French compas, from Late Latin compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus pace, step. See Pace, Pass.]
1.
A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
They fetched a compass of seven day's journey.
This day I breathed first; time is come round,
And where I did begin, there shall I end;
My life is run his compass.
2.
An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
3.
An inclosed space; an area; extent.
Their wisdom... lies in a very narrow compass.
4.
Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination.
The compass of his argument.
5.
Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; -- used with within.
In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed.
6.
(Music) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument.
You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass.
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.
He that first discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses.
8.
A pair of compasses. [Rare]
To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please.
9.
A circle; a continent. [Obsolete]
The tryne compas [the threefold world containing earth, sea, and heaven. Skeat.]
Its leaves are turned to the north as true as the magnet:
This is the compass flower.
Collocations (6)
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 (Carpentry) , a plane, convex in the direction of its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave faces of curved woodwork.
Compass plant or Compass flower (Botany) , 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.
Compass (kum"pas) , transitive verb
[French compasser, Late Latin compassare.]
1.
To go about or entirely round; to make the circuit of.
Ye shall compass the city seven times.
We the globe can compass soon.
2.
To inclose on all sides; to surround; to encircle; to environ; to invest; to besiege; -- used with about, round, around, and round about.
With terrors and with clamors compassed round.
Now all the blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about.
Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round.
3.
To reach round; to circumvent; to get within one's power; to obtain; to accomplish.
If I can check my erring love, I will:
If not, to compass her I'll use my skill.
How can you hope to compass your designs?
4.
To curve; to bend into a circular form. [Obsolete except in carpentry and shipbuilding.] — Shakespeare
5.
(Law) To purpose; to intend; to imagine; to plot.
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.