compass Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun navigational instrument for finding directions
  2. noun an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"
    ambit; reach; orbit; range; scope.
    • a piano has a greater range than the human voice
    • the ambit of municipal legislation
    • within the compass of this article
    • within the scope of an investigation
    • outside the reach of the law
    • in the political orbit of a world power
  3. noun the limit of capability
    grasp; range; reach.
    • within the compass of education
  4. noun drafting instrument used for drawing circles
  5. verb bring about; accomplish
    • This writer attempts more than his talents can compass
  6. verb travel around, either by plane or ship
    circumnavigate.
    • We compassed the earth
  7. verb get the meaning of something
    grok; apprehend; dig; comprehend; grasp; savvy; get the picture.
    • Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?

WordNet

Com"pass noun
Etymology
F. compas, fr. LL. compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus pace, step. See Pace, Pass.
Definitions
  1. A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
    They fetched a compass of seven day's journey. 2 Kings iii. 9.
    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; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
  3. An inclosed space; an area; extent.
    Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass. Addison.
  4. Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination.
    The compass of his argument. Wodsworth.
  5. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; -- used with within.
    In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed. Sir J. Davies.
  6. (Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instument.
    You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass. Shak.
  7. An instrument for determining directions upon the carth's surface by means of a magnetized bar or needle turning freely upon a pivot and pinting in a northerly and southerly direction.
    He that firat discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses. Locke.
  8. A pair of compasses. R.
    To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please. Swift.
  9. A circle; a continent. Obs.
    The tryne compas [the threefold world containing earth, sea, and heaven. Skeat.] Chaucer.
Com"pass transitive verb
Etymology
F. compasser, LL. compassare.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Compassed ; present participle & verbal noun Compassing
Definitions
  1. To go about or entirely round; to make the circuit of.
    Ye shall compass the city seven times. Josh. vi. 4.
    We the globe can compass soon. Shak.
  2. To inclose on all sides; to surround; to encircle; to envior; to invest; to besiege; -- used with about, round, around, and round about.
    With terrors and with clamors compassed round. Milton.
    Now all the blessings Of a glad cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round.Luke xix. 43.
  3. To reach round; to circumvent; to get within one's power; to obtain; to accomplish.
    If I can chek my erring love, I will: If not, to compass her I'll use my skill. Shak.
    How can you to compass your designs? Denham.
  4. To curve; to bend into a circular form. Obs. except in carpentry and shipbuilding. Shak.
  5. (Law) To purpose; to intend; to imagine; to plot.
    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.

Webster 1913