A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
An inclosed space; an area; extent.
Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination.
Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; - used with within.
The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument.
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.
A pair of compasses.
A circle; a continent.
To go about or entirely round; to make the circuit of.
To inclose on all sides; to surround; to encircle; to environ; to invest; to besiege; - used with about, round, around, and round about.
To reach round; to circumvent; to get within one's power; to obtain; to accomplish.
To curve; to bend into a circular form.
To purpose; to intend; to imagine; to plot.
The sixth part of a circle.
An instrument for measuring angular distances between objects, - used esp. at sea, for ascertaining the latitude and longitude. It is constructed on the same optical principle as Hadley's quadrant, but usually of metal, with a nicer graduation, telescopic sight, and its arc the sixth, and sometimes the third, part of a circle. See Quadrant.
The constellation Sextans.
