compass course

American

noun

Nautical.

a course whose bearing is relative to the meridian as given by the navigator's compass, no compensation being made for variation or deviation.

Etymology

Origin of compass course

First recorded in 1850–55

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.

Comte leveled out on a compass course for Bloemfontein and nosed out of the cloud.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dirty fog shut down over all of the south-east by daylight, forcing the flyer to steer a compass course over a mist-blotted earth.

From Time Magazine Archive

The navigator set a compass course southeastward towards St. Thomas.

From Time Magazine Archive

In any case, war between Germany and Russia called for a new compass course from Skipper Curran.

From Time Magazine Archive

After a march of two days along the river bank, they struck across the barren grounds, taking a direct compass course for Point Lake.

From True Tales of Arctic Heroism in the New World by Greely, Adolphus W.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023