Compass
['kʌmpəs]
Definition
(noun.) navigational instrument for finding directions.
(noun.) drafting instrument used for drawing circles.
(noun.) the limit of capability; 'within the compass of education'.
(verb.) bring about; accomplish; 'This writer attempts more than his talents can compass'.
Edited by Diana--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
(n.) An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
(n.) An inclosed space; an area; extent.
(n.) Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination.
(n.) Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; -- used with within.
(n.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A pair of compasses.
(n.) A circle; a continent.
(v. t.) To go about or entirely round; to make the circuit of.
(v. t.) To inclose on all sides; to surround; to encircle; to environ; to invest; to besiege; -- used with about, round, around, and round about.
(v. t.) To reach round; to circumvent; to get within one's power; to obtain; to accomplish.
(v. t.) To curve; to bend into a circular form.
(v. t.) To purpose; to intend; to imagine; to plot.
Typed by Ina
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Encompass, environ, surround, encircle, enclose, engird, compass about.[2]. Besiege, invest, beset, hem in, hedge in, wall in, lay siege to.[3]. Attain, obtain, procure, accomplish, effect, perform, achieve, consummate, realize, carry, bring about, bring to pass.[4]. (Law.) Meditate, contrive, plot, purpose, intend, devise.
n. [1]. Stretch, reach, extent, range.[2]. Circuit, round, circular course.
Checker: Nicole
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Area, enclosure, circuit, circumference, horizon
ANT:Common, space, tract, expanse, boundlessness, limitlessness, indefiniteness
SYN:Encompass, surround, enclose, environ, circumscribe, embrace, achieve, effect,effectuate, consummate, complete, circumvent
ANT:Expand, disband, unfold, amplify, display, dismiss, liberate, discard, fail,bungle, botch, misconceive, mismanage, misconstrue
Typed by Jaime
Definition
n. a circuit or circle: space: limit: range a limit of tones of a voice or instrument: the circumference: girth: an instrument consisting of a magnetised needle used to steer ships by &c. the needle indicating on a card the absolute directions at any given time: (pl.) an instrument consisting of two movable legs for describing circles &c.—v.t. to pass or go round: to surround or enclose: to besiege: to bring about or obtain: to contrive or plot: to accomplish.—adj. Com′passable capable of being compassed.—ns. Com′pass-card the circular card of a compass; Com′passing contrivance: design; Com′pass-plane a plane convex on the under side for smoothing curved timber; Com′pass-saw a saw that cuts in a circular manner; Com′pass-sig′nal a signal denoting a point in the compass; Com′pass-tim′ber curved timber used for shipbuilding &c.; Com′pass-win′dow a semicircular bay-window.—Box the compass (see Box); Fetch a compass to go round in a circuit.
Inputed by Avis
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of a compass, denotes you will be forced to struggle in narrow limits, thus making elevation more toilsome but fuller of honor. To dream of the compass or mariner's needle, foretells you will be surrounded by prosperous circumstances and honest people will favor you. To see one pointing awry, foretells threatened loss and deception.
Typist: Millie
Examples
- I got some data and made up my mind that what was needed was a very powerful engine for its weight, in small compass. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Thus the Barnacles were all over the world, in every direction--despatch-boxing the compass. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- All battleships in the United States Navy are now fitted with the gyroscopic compass. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- You wind in and out and here and there, in the most mysterious way, and have no more idea of the points of the compass than if you were a blind man. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- In this rain we need a compass. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Inventions-- Alphabetical Writing; Arabic Notation; The Mariner's Compass; The Telescope; The Steam Engine. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Hush,' said Sam, swinging himself on to the wall, and crouching there in as small a compass as he could reduce himself to, 'only me, miss, only me. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- An other piece of commonplace knowledge--the cardinal points of the compass--may be accepted, likewise, without inquiry or without recognition of its importance. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- In the construction of a temple or a pyramid not merely was it necessary to have regard to the points of the compass, but care must be taken to have the sides at right angles. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- From this starting-point I proceeded to step, having first taken the cardinal points by my pocket-compass. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Compasses are sometimes carried on masts in iron vessels as a means of removing them from the disturbing influence of the iron of the hull. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford for its centre. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- He compassed it. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Our situation was somewhat dangerous, especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- The main object compassed, the drooping, miserable party sat down to wait for the sun again, for all wanted to see the water as well as feel it. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Editor: Tod