compass rose
Americannoun
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Navigation. a circle divided into 32 points or 360° numbered clockwise from true or magnetic north, printed on a chart or the like as a means of determining the course of a vessel or aircraft.
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a similar design, often ornamented, used on maps to indicate the points of the compass.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
One extraordinary map from 1834 shown in the book compares the lengths of the world’s rivers in lines that branch outward from a central compass rose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
The Seattle-based cartography company turns 50 this year, providing proof as clear as the compass rose that the hard-copy map is not going the way of the phone book.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
Printed on delicate yellow paper that was almost translucent, “The Americana Treasure Map” was decorated with drawings of galleons, pirates and a compass rose embellished with a skull and crossbones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2023
A blue compass rose with an orange northward arrow is laid over an empty section of each page, and each page is given a district name.
From The New Yorker ● May 23, 2019
Arrows and a compass rose surrounded the title and the author’s name.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
