compass card

American  

noun

Navigation.

1. a circular card with magnets attached to its underside, the face divided on its rim into points of the compass, degrees clockwise from north, or both, and floating or suspended from a pivot so as to rotate freely.

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compass card British  

noun

1. a compass in the form of a card that rotates so that "0°" or "North" points to magnetic north

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Etymology

Origin of compass card

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compass card

I actually prefer trying to hold a number on its screen rather than trying to keep a compass card in alignment.

From Time Magazine Archive

But they never look at the instrument board on a line run without seeing on the compass card a sharp reminder of a TWA deficiency: all its routes run east and west.

From Time Magazine Archive

Within a medallion at the center of the compass card is depicted a sailing vessel at sea; surrounding the medallion is a riband inscribed "Made and Sold by Joseph Halsy Boston—New England."

From Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers by Bedini, Silvio A.

When, and by whom, the compass card was added is a matter of conjecture.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 "Columbus" to "Condottiere" by Various

An indicator showing the direction the sight vane points can be read upon the compass card on the glass dial.

From Lectures in Navigation by Draper, Ernest Gallaudet