Library / English Dictionary

COMPASS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Navigational instrument for finding directions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("compass" is a kind of...):

navigational instrument (an instrument used for navigating)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compass"):

gyrocompass (a compass that does not depend on magnetism but uses a gyroscope instead)

magnetic compass (compass based on an indicator (as a magnetic needle) that points to the magnetic north)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Drafting instrument used for drawing circles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("compass" is a kind of...):

drafting instrument (an instrument used by a draftsman in making drawings)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:

Example:

in the political orbit of a world power

Synonyms:

ambit; compass; orbit; range; reach; scope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("compass" is a kind of...):

extent (the distance or area or volume over which something extends)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compass"):

palette; pallet (the range of colour characteristic of a particular artist or painting or school of art)

spectrum (a broad range of related objects or values or qualities or ideas or activities)

gamut (a complete extent or range:)

expanse; sweep (a wide scope)

horizon; purview; view (the range of interest or activity that can be anticipated)

latitude (scope for freedom of e.g. action or thought; freedom from restriction)

internationalism; internationality (quality of being international in scope)

contrast (the range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness))

confines (a bounded scope)

approximate range; ballpark (near to the scope or range of something)

Derivation:

compass (bring about; accomplish)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The limit of capability

Example:

within the compass of education

Synonyms:

compass; grasp; range; reach

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("compass" is a kind of...):

capability; capableness; potentiality (an aptitude that may be developed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compass"):

ken; sight (the range of vision)

Derivation:

compass (bring about; accomplish)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get the meaning of something

Example:

Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?

Synonyms:

apprehend; compass; comprehend; dig; get the picture; grasp; grok; savvy

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "compass" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "compass"):

figure (understand)

catch on; cotton on; get it; get onto; get wise; latch on; tumble; twig (understand, usually after some initial difficulty)

intuit (know or grasp by intuition or feeling)

digest (arrange and integrate in the mind)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Travel around, either by plane or ship

Example:

We compassed the earth

Synonyms:

circumnavigate; compass

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "compass" is one way to...):

circle (travel around something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bring about; accomplish

Example:

This writer attempts more than his talents can compass

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "compass" is one way to...):

accomplish; achieve; attain; reach (to gain with effort)

Domain usage:

archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

compass (an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:)

compass (the limit of capability)

Credits

 Context examples: 

This internal compass can help orient animals who live in a complex, dynamic three-dimensional habitat,” said Mike Sieracki, a program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences.

(North Atlantic haddock use magnetic compass to guide them, National Science Foundation)

This is the first evidence that a fish species uses its internal magnetic compass to form a memory of current direction.

(Study uncovers magnetic memory of European glass eels, National Science Foundation)

You will be able to go, so spin your compass and decide on a location that you have always wanted to see.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

"I knows him!" and, after a few convulsive efforts, the red legs took the shape of a pair of compasses, and the intelligent pupil triumphantly shouted, "It's a We, Dranpa, it's a We!"

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He was for any description of policy, in the compass of a week; and nailed all sorts of colours to every denomination of mast.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It was the compass by which he steered and learned to chart the manners of a new land and life.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

As it was, he found Spencer's explanation of things convincing; and, as he phrased it to himself, to give up Spencer would be equivalent to a navigator throwing the compass and chronometer overboard.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The four compass directions: northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest, located halfway between the cardinal directions.

(Ordinal Direction, NCI Thesaurus)

I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use an arc-and-compass breastpin.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The estate is called Carfax, no doubt a corruption of the old Quatre Face, as the house is four-sided, agreeing with the cardinal points of the compass.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)