GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Compass , n. [F. compas, fr. LL. compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus pace, step. See Pace, Pass.]
   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
   An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
   1913 Webster
   An inclosed space; an area; extent.
   1913 Webster
   Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass.
   Addison.
   
   1913 Webster
   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
   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
   (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
   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
   A pair of compasses. [R.] See Compasses.
   To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please.
   Swift.
   
   1913 Webster
   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
   
         
       

2.       
   Compass , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compassed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Compassing.] [F. compasser, LL. compassare.]
   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
   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
   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
   To curve; to bend into a circular form. [Obs. except in carpentry and shipbuilding.]
   Shak.
   
   1913 Webster
   (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