compartment
Americannoun
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compartments
plural
-
a part or space marked or partitioned off.
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a separate room, section, etc..
a baggage compartment.
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U.S. Railroads. a private bedroom with toilet facilities.
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a separate aspect, function, or the like.
the compartments of the human mind.
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Architecture. a distinct major division of a design.
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Heraldry. a decorative base, as a grassy mound, on which the supporters of an escutcheon stand or rest.
verb (used with object)
noun
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one of the sections into which an area, esp an enclosed space, is divided or partitioned
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any separate part or section
a compartment of the mind
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a small storage space; locker
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of compartment
1555–65; < Middle French compartiment < Italian compartimento. See compart, -ment
Explanation
A compartment is a space within another space, like the glove compartment in a car. Compartments are spaces, but they're not spaces that stand on their own. Rather, compartments are part of other spaces: they're subdivisions. The trunk is a compartment of a car. A pocket is a compartment of a suitcase. Closets are like compartments of rooms. One of the most common compartments is a car's glove compartment, where people throw all kinds of things. Anything that is divided into smaller spaces has compartments. The ventricles are like compartments of your heart.
Vocabulary lists containing compartment
"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 6
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A Farewell To Arms
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ment
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In Tesla's Model 3, for example, passengers must reach into a compartment inside the door pocket and find a release cable to manually open the rear door, according to the company's website.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Each seat, the company says, has its own overhead luggage compartment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The weathered thread compartment holds two toy horses with armed riders in red coats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
In October, video was widely shared of flames belching from the overhead storage compartment of an Air China flight, reportedly caused by a lithium battery.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Yasmin Morton-Bagot fumbled through her glove compartment and got out a map.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Inside, TV screens replaced the overhead luggage compartments, and a strip of lights lined the carriages’ walls from front to back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
This network consists of compartments that fold, modify, and prepare proteins before sending them to their final locations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Take, for example, the viral “snackle box,” which contains multiple compartments to hold everything from your favorite packaged snacks and candies to cut up fruit and vegetables.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
These frozen meals were arranged in heat-and-serve aluminum trays with three compartments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Count and Countess Andrenyi occupied compartments No. 12 and 13 adjoining.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
