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Meaning of compass in English

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈkəmpəs/

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  1. Verb

    compass

    Definitions

    1. bring about

    Examples

    • « accomplish »
    • « This writer attempts more than his talents can compass »
  2. 2. travel around, either by plane or ship

    Examples

    • « We compassed the earth »
  3. 3. get the meaning of something

    Examples

    • « Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter? »
  4. Noun

    compass

    Etymology

    Middle English: from Old French compas (noun), compasser (verb), based on Latin com-‘together’ + passus‘a step or pace’. Several senses (‘measure’, ‘artifice’, ‘circumscribed area’, and ‘pair of compasses’) which appeared in Middle English are also found in Old French, but their development and origin are uncertain. The transference of sense to the magnetic compass is held to have occurred in the related Italian word compasso, from the circular shape of the compass box

    Definitions

    1. navigational instrument for finding directions
  5. 2. an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"

    Examples

    • « the ambit of municipal legislation »
    • « within the compass of this article »
    • « within the scope of an investigation »
    • « outside the reach of the law »
    • « in t »
  6. 3. the limit of capability

    Examples

    • « within the compass of education »
  7. 4. drafting instrument used for drawing circles

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