Compass

/ˈkʌmpəs/ · noun

Meaning

A magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north)..

Definitions by Sense

1. A magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north).
2. A pair of compasses (a device used to draw circular arcs and transfer length measurements).
3. (music) The range of notes of a musical instrument or voice.
4. (obsolete) A space within limits; an area.
5. (obsolete) An enclosing limit; a boundary, a circumference.
6. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; used with within.
7. (formal) Synonym of scope.
8. (obsolete) Range, reach.

Example Sentences

1689/1690, John Locke, On improvement of understanding He that […] first discovered the use of the compass […] did more for the propagation of knowledge […] than those who built workhouses.

[H]ow many Seas to our fore-fathers impaſſable, for want of the Compaſſe?

a glance at his compass would have shown him that a northerly course instead of an easterly could not be right

to fix one foot of their compass wherever they please

You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass.

In going up the Missisippi ^([sic]), we meet with nothing remarkable before we come to the Detour aux Anglois, the English Reach: in that part the river takes a large compass.

Animals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.

Clara thought she had never seen him look so small and mean. He was as if trying to get himself into the smallest possible compass.

Synonyms for compass

Antonyms for compass

Related Words

Word Forms

• compasses
• compassing
• compassed
• more compass
• most compass

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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