compartment

[ kuhm-pahrt-muhnt ]

/ kəmˈpɑrt mənt /

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See synonyms for: compartment / compartmented / compartmenting on Thesaurus.com

noun

a part or space marked or partitioned off.

a separate room, section, etc.: a baggage compartment.

U.S. Railroads. a private bedroom with toilet facilities.

a separate aspect, function, or the like: the compartments of the human mind.

Architecture. a distinct major division of a design.

Heraldry. a decorative base, as a grassy mound, on which the supporters of an escutcheon stand or rest.

verb (used with object)

to divide into compartments.

OTHER WORDS FOR compartment

1 division, section.

See synonyms for compartment on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of compartment

1555–65; <Middle French compartiment<Italian compartimento.See compart, -ment

Words nearby compartment

comparison shopper, comparison test, comparsa, compart, compartimento, compartment, compartmental, compartmentalization, compartmentalize, compartmentation, compass

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use compartment in a sentence

Since they don’t have finger compartments, mittens allow your fingers to share body heat with each other.
Best mittens: Keep your hands cozy|PopSci Commerce Team|February 8, 2021|Popular-Science
Meanwhile, Finer and the other half of the team worked on the tail section, trying to break into the engine compartment.
Lunik: Inside the CIA’s audacious plot to steal a Soviet satellite|Bobbie Johnson|January 28, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The compartment of concerns has been stuffed with some nasty new packages, many of which have given me pause — before and during and after the games.
Sports aren’t joyless. Just watch Sixers Piano Girl.|Dan Steinberg|January 21, 2021|Washington Post
In contrast, in the fungal species Neurospora, the hyphae are divided into compartments, with pores that regulate the flow of water and nutrients.
A Newfound Source of Cellular Order in the Chemistry of Life|Viviane Callier|January 7, 2021|Quanta Magazine

Close up every compartment of significant transmission for a period of time.
“You can’t just give people more data and expect them to act differently”|Lindsay Muscato|December 7, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The EFPs were hidden in a compartment under an unassuming-looking house.
How the NSA Became a Killing Machine|Shane Harris|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“We used to go to the Crimea for two weeks every June,” said the couple sharing our train compartment.
For Ukrainians on Holiday, the Carpathians Are the New Crimea|Vijai Maheshwari|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When he learned his official diagnosis—acute compartment syndrome—he mocked it a little.
Reporter Miles O’Brien Lost an Arm but None of His Admirable Spirit or Wit|Kevin Bleyer|March 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So Ogorzow was listening in the darkened compartment for the sound of anyone pulling a door open.
A Serial Killer on the Loose in Nazi Berlin|Scott Andrew Selby|January 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They sat across from each other in the otherwise empty train compartment and made small talk.
A Serial Killer on the Loose in Nazi Berlin|Scott Andrew Selby|January 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Delancy opened the glove compartment in the instrument board and took out a pair of field glasses.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
One of the gunmen who crouched on the floor of the rear compartment cursed quietly and without interruption for nearly a minute.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
Sure enough, a High-Pockets Jones was stepping out of the second compartment of the cabinet.
Nine Men in Time|Noel Miller Loomis
The ladies, the baby and the maid had a compartment of the sleeping car to themselves and journeyed comfortably enough.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume II (of 3)|Charles James Wills
He could take care of him when he got inside, got to that stubby .38 he had slipped into the glove compartment just in case.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

British Dictionary definitions for compartment

compartment

/ (kəmˈpɑːtmənt) /

noun

one of the sections into which an area, esp an enclosed space, is divided or partitioned

any separate part or sectiona compartment of the mind

a small storage space; locker

Derived forms of compartment

compartmental (ˌkɒmpɑːtˈmɛntəl), adjectivecompartmentally, adverb

Word Origin for compartment

C16: from French compartiment, ultimately from Late Latin compartīrī to share, from Latin com- with + partīrī to apportion, from pars part

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

compartment

OTHER WORDS FOR compartment

Origin of compartment

Words nearby compartment

Words related to compartment

How to use compartment in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for compartment

Derived forms of compartment

Word Origin for compartment