Compass window

Compass \Com"pass\ (k[u^]m"pas), n. [F. compas, fr. LL.
   compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus
   pace, step. See {Pace}, {Pass}.]
   1. A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
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            They fetched a compass of seven day's journey. --2
                                                  Kings iii. 9.
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            This day I breathed first; time is come round,
            And where I did begin, there shall I end;
            My life is run his compass.           --Shak.
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   2. An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within
      the compass of an encircling wall.
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   3. An inclosed space; an area; extent.
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            Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass.
                                                  --Addison.
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   4. Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of
      his eye; the compass of imagination.
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            The compass of his argument.          --Wordsworth.
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   5. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits;
      -- used with within.
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            In two hundred years before (I speak within
            compass), no such commission had been executed.
                                                  --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
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   6. (Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity
      of a voice or instrument.
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            You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of
            my compass.                           --Shak.
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   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.
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            He that first discovered the use of the compass did
            more for the supplying and increase of useful
            commodities than those who built workhouses.
                                                  --Locke.
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   8. A pair of compasses. [R.] See {Compasses.}

            To fix one foot of their compass wherever they
            please.                               --Swift.
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   9. A circle; a continent. [Obs.]
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            The tryne compas [the threefold world containing
            earth, sea, and heaven. --Skeat.]     --Chaucer.
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   {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.
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            Its leaves are turned to the north as true as the
            magnet:
            This is the compass flower.           --Longefellow.

   {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.
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