from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
They fetched a compass of seven day's journey. --2
Kings iii. 9.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within
the compass of an encircling wall.
[1913 Webster]
3. An inclosed space; an area; extent.
[1913 Webster]
Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
4. Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of
his eye; the compass of imagination.
[1913 Webster]
The compass of his argument. --Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
5. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits;
-- used with within.
[1913 Webster]
In two hundred years before (I speak within
compass), no such commission had been executed.
--Sir J.
Davies.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity
of a voice or instrument.
[1913 Webster]
You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of
my compass. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
8. A pair of compasses. [R.] See {Compasses.}
To fix one foot of their compass wherever they
please. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
9. A circle; a continent. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The tryne compas [the threefold world containing
earth, sea, and heaven. --Skeat.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Beam \Beam\ (b[=e]m), n. [AS. be['a]m beam, post, tree, ray of
light; akin to OFries. b[=a]m tree, OS. b[=o]m, D. boom, OHG.
boum, poum, G. baum, Icel. ba[eth]mr, Goth. bagms and Gr.
fy^ma a growth, fy^nai to become, to be. Cf. L. radius staff,
rod, spoke of a wheel, beam or ray, and G. strahl arrow,
spoke of a wheel, ray or beam, flash of lightning. [root]97.
See {Be}; cf. {Boom} a spar.]
1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to
its thickness, and prepared for use.
[1913 Webster]
2. One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building or
ship.
[1913 Webster]
The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber
stretching across from side to side to support the
decks. --Totten.
[1913 Webster]
3. The width of a vessel; as, one vessel is said to have more
beam than another.
[1913 Webster]
4. The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales
are suspended.
[1913 Webster]
The doubtful beam long nods from side to side.
--Pope.
[1913 Webster]
5. The principal stem or horn of a stag or other deer, which
bears the antlers, or branches.
[1913 Webster]
6. The pole of a carriage. [Poetic] --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
7. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which
weavers wind the warp before weaving; also, the cylinder
on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven; one being
called the fore beam, the other the back beam.
[1913 Webster]
8. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
[1913 Webster]
9. The main part of a plow, to which the handles and colter
are secured, and to the end of which are attached the oxen
or horses that draw it.
[1913 Webster]
10. (Steam Engine) A heavy iron lever having an oscillating
motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected
with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and
the other with the crank of the wheel shaft; -- called
also {working beam} or {walking beam}.
[1913 Webster]
11. A ray or collection of parallel rays emitted from the sun
or other luminous body; as, a beam of light, or of heat.
[1913 Webster]
How far that little candle throws his beams!
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
12. (Fig.): A ray; a gleam; as, a beam of comfort.
[1913 Webster]
Mercy with her genial beam. --Keble.
[1913 Webster]
13. One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk; -- called
also {beam feather}.
[1913 Webster]
{Abaft the beam} (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon between a
line that crosses the ship at right angles, or in the
direction of her beams, and that point of the compass
toward which her stern is directed.
{Beam center} (Mach.), the fulcrum or pin on which the
working beam of an engine vibrates.
{Beam compass}, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam,
having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points;
-- used for drawing or describing large circles.
{Beam engine}, a steam engine having a working beam to
transmit power, in distinction from one which has its
piston rod attached directly to the crank of the wheel
shaft.
{Before the beam} (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon included
between a line that crosses the ship at right angles and
that point of the compass toward which the ship steers.
{On the beam}, in a line with the beams, or at right angles
with the keel.
{On the weather beam}, on the side of a ship which faces the
wind.
{To be on her beam ends}, to incline, as a vessel, so much on
one side that her beams approach a vertical position.
[1913 Webster]