Compass

(kŭm′pas), n. [Fr., Pr., & Sp. compas, It. & Pg. compasso, L. Lat. compassus, circle, properly, a stepping together, from Lat. com, for cum, and passus, pace, step. See PACE and PASS.] 1. A passing round; circuit; circumference. 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. 2. An inclosing limit; boundary; as, within the compass of an encircling wall. And in that compass all the world contains. Dryden. 3. An inclosed space; an area; extent; sphere; capacity. The imperial palace, compass huge, and high The structure. Milton. Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass. Addison. 4. Moderate bounds; limits of truth; moderation; due limits. [Obs.] In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed. Davies. 5. (Mus.) The range of notes, or sound, comprehended by any voice or instrument. You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass. Shak. 6. An instrument consisting essentially of a magnetized needle turning freely on a point, used to determine horizontal directions, in reference to the north and other cardinal points. He that first discovered the use of the compass, did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built work-houses. Locke. 7. A pair of compasses. [Rare.] “To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please.” Swift. Azimuth compass, one constructed like the mariner's, except that the card is accurately divided into 360°, and the instrument is furnished with two sights, and has a motion in azimuth. It is chiefly used to note the actual magnetic azimuth, from which is determined the variation or declination of the magnetic needle. — Mariner's compass, one which has its needle permanently attached to a card, so that both move together. The card is divided into thirty-two parts, or points, called also rhumbs, and the glass-covered box containing it is suspended in gimbals, in order to preserve its horizontal position. — Surveyor's compass, one having the needle suspended by itself, and with a graduated circle of 360°, on which the needle indicates the angle between a given direction and the magnetic north. It is also furnished with two sights. — Variation compass, one of delicate construction, employed in observations on the variations of the needle. — To fetch a compass, to go round in a circuit.