compass card

noun Navigation.

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.

Nearby words

compartment, compartmental, compartmentalize, compartmentation, compass, compass card, compass course, compass deviation, compass deviation card, compass north, compass plane

Origin of compass card

First recorded in 1870–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for compass card

The compass-card spun round like a teetotum, whirling faster and faster.
Gun running for Casement in the Easter rebellion, 1916|Karl Spindler
A subdivision of the compass-card, equal to 2° 48′ 45″ of the circle.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry Smyth
FLY, or Compass-card, placed on the magnetic-needle and supported by a pin, whereon it turns freely.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry Smyth
It is also applied to the undulation of the compass-card when the motion of the vessel is considerable and irregular.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry Smyth

As a result, Prof. Thomson devised a compass-card which is remarkable for its lightness and sensitiveness.
Makers of Electricity|Brother Potamian

British Dictionary definitions for compass card

compass card

noun

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

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