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

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

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

The compass card consists of a paper ring, on which the "points" and degrees are engraved in the ordinary way, and is kept circular by a light ring of aluminium.

From Lord Kelvin An account of his scientific life and work by Gray, Andrew

The use of an engraved compass card indicates that the instruments were not unique, and that a number of others were produced or contemplated.

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

The lubber line, therefore, will always represent the bow of the ship, and the point on the compass card nearest the lubber line will be the point toward which the ship is heading.

From Lectures in Navigation by Draper, Ernest Gallaudet