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Mariner's compass   /mˈɛrənərz kˈəmpəs/   Listen
noun
Compass  n.  
1.
A passing round; circuit; circuitous course. "They fetched a compass of seven day's journey." "This day I breathed first; time is come round, And where I did begin, there shall I end; My life is run his compass."
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."
4.
Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination. "The compass of his argument."
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."
6.
(Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument. "You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass."
7.
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. "He that first discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses."
8.
A pair of compasses. (R.) See Compasses. "To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please."
9.
A circle; a continent. (Obs.) "The tryne compas (the threefold world containing earth, sea, and heaven.)"
Azimuth compass. See under Azimuth.
Beam compass. See under Beam.
Compass card, the circular card attached to the needles of a mariner's compass, on which are marked the thirty-two points or rhumbs.
Compass dial, a small pocket compass fitted with a sundial to tell the hour of the day.
Compass plane (Carp.), a plane, convex in the direction of its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave faces of curved woodwork.
Compass plant, Compass flower (Bot.), a plant of the American prairies (Silphium laciniatum), not unlike a small sunflower; rosinweed. Its lower and root leaves are vertical, and on the prairies are disposed to present their edges north and south. "Its leaves are turned to the north as true as the magnet: This is the compass flower." Compass saw, a saw with a narrow blade, which will cut in a curve; called also fret saw and keyhole saw. Compass timber (Shipbuilding), curved or crooked timber. Compass window (Arch.), a circular bay window or oriel window. Mariner's compass, a kind of compass used in navigation. It has two or more magnetic needles permanently attached to a card, which moves freely upon a pivot, and is read with reference to a mark on the box representing the ship's head. The card is divided into thirty-two points, called also rhumbs, and the glass-covered box or bowl containing it is suspended in gimbals within the binnacle, in order to preserve its horizontal position. Surveyor's compass, an instrument used in surveying for measuring horizontal angles. See Circumferentor. Variation compass, a compass of delicate construction, used in observations on the variations of the needle. To fetch a compass, to make a circuit.


Mariner  n.  One whose occupation is to assist in navigating ships; a seaman or sailor.
Mariner's compass. See under Compass.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Mariner's compass" Quotes from Famous Books



... man claims to have established these three independent truths, which are about as remote from each other as the discovery of the law of gravitation, the invention of printing, and that of the mariner's compass, unless the facts in their favor are overwhelming and unanimous, the question naturally arises, Is not this man deceiving himself, ...
— Medical Essays • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
... were trained to trot blindfold on a tread-mill in which there was no possibility of progress. Had the mind of the nation been left free and encouraged to exert its force, who can doubt that the country that produced the mariner's compass might have given birth to a Newton ...
— The Awakening of China • W.A.P. Martin
... nothingness, or been borne towards the ocean of eternity, by the swiftly destructive gulf of time,—an empire whose people have materially contributed to advance the civilization of Europe and America, by the discovery of the most useful arts and sciences, such as writing,[3] astronomy, the mariner's compass, gunpowder, sugar, silk, porcelain, the smelting and combination of metals,—and, in fine, enjoying within its own territories all the necessaries and conveniencies, and most of the luxuries of life; standing, as it proudly asserts, in no need of intercourse with other countries,[4] ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. XIX. No. 541, Saturday, April 7, 1832 • Various
... straw hat, and steering the canoe by the bright reflection of the sun on its cedar deck, which was of course by no means so unpleasant as the beams of light glancing from the water itself. Surely it would not be impossible to make the needle of a mariner's compass itself steer the ship at least within half a point. The motion of the needle could connect one or the other of two electro currents, and so set in instant action a powerful purchase to ...
— The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy" • John MacGregor
... paper, printing and engraving, improved glass and steel, gunpowder, clocks, telescopes, the mariner's compass, the reformed calendar, the decimal notation; algebra, trigonometry, chemistry, counterpoint (an invention equivalent to a new creation of music); these are all possessions which we inherit from that which has so disparagingly ...
— Mutual Aid • P. Kropotkin


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