Compass (kŭmp&aitalic_;s), n. [F. compas, fr. LL. compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus pace, step. See Pace, Pass.] 1. A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
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They fetched a compass of seven day's journey. 2 Kings iii. 9.
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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.
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2. An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
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3. An inclosed space; an area; extent.
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Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass. Addison.
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4. Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination.
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The compass of his argument. Wordsworth.
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5. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; -- used with within.
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In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed. Sir J. Davies.
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6. (Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument.
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You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass. Shak.
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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.
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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.
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8. A pair of compasses. [R.] See Compasses.

To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please. Swift.
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9. A circle; a continent. [Obs.]
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The tryne compas [the threefold world containing earth, sea, and heaven. Skeat.] Chaucer.
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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.
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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.
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