box the compass

Idioms  

1. Make a complete turnabout or reversal, as in With a change of ownership, the editorial page boxed the compass politically, now supporting the Senator. Originally this was (and continues to be) a nautical term, meaning “repeat the 32 points of the compass in order.” In the early 1800s it began to be used figuratively.

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Example Sentences

No one, certainly not a professional historian, would dare to box the compass of Churchill's subject matter.

From Time Magazine Archive

Whenever you think you have the answer to a German problem, you have to box the compass to see how it checks with all the major forces.

From Time Magazine Archive

"And we'll not only learn the sixteen principal points of the compass, but we'll learn to box the compass to the quarter point as navigators do."

From Troop One of the Labrador by Wallace, Dillon

He hadn’t learned to box the compass, however; and even had he possessed the knowledge, there wasn’t a compass on board the Merry Maiden to box or be boxed.

From The Island of Gold A Sailor's Yarn by Stables, Gordon

Mark had almost forgotten his sea-sickness, and spent much of his time with Jan Jansen, who taught him to make knots and splices, to box the compass and to steer.

From Wakulla: a story of adventure in Florida by Munroe, Kirk