COMPASS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does compass mean? 

• COMPASS (noun)
  The noun COMPASS has 4 senses:

1. navigational instrument for finding directions

2. an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:

3. the limit of capability

4. drafting instrument used for drawing circles

  Familiarity information: COMPASS used as a noun is uncommon.

• COMPASS (verb)
  The verb COMPASS has 3 senses:

1. bring about; accomplish

2. travel around, either by plane or ship

3. get the meaning of something

  Familiarity information: COMPASS used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPASS (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"):

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

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

ambit; compass; orbit; range; reach; scope

Context example:

in the political orbit of a world power

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"):

expanse; sweep (a wide scope)

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:)

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 3

Meaning:

The limit of capability

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

compass; grasp; range; reach

Context example:

within the compass of education

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)

Sense 4

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)

• COMPASS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they compass    ... he / she / it compasses   
Past simple: compassed   
Past participle: compassed   
-ing form: compassing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bring about; accomplish

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

This writer attempts more than his talents can compass

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Travel around, either by plane or ship

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

circumnavigate; compass

Context example:

We compassed the earth

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

circle (travel around something)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Get the meaning of something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?

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

 Context examples 

The ordinal direction halfway between west and north on a compass.

(Northwest, NCI Thesaurus)

On a large transparent sheet, compass and square in hand, he was copying what appeared to be a scale of some sort or other.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It is at 0 degree on a compass card.

(North, NCI Thesaurus)

East is at 90 degree on a compass card.

(East, NCI Thesaurus)

The sun came out, and he succeeded in locating the points of the compass, though he knew now that he was lost.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I had no compass with me and was so slenderly acquainted with the geography of this part of the world that the sun was of little benefit to me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A hypothetical heat-proof compass at the surface of the Sun would point toward one pole during one eleven-year period but toward the other during the next.

(Sun's mood swings not so strange after all, Wikinews)

From this starting-point I proceeded to step, having first taken the cardinal points by my pocket-compass.

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

He saw the movement, or heard sound, and responded in less time than another dog required to compass the mere seeing or hearing.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The body pointed straight in the direction of the island, and the compass read duly E.S.E. and by E.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)