compass
noun
an instrument for determining directions, as by means of a freely rotating magnetized needle that indicates magnetic north.
compasses
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pluralof compass.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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present tense formof compass (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
compassnounan instrument for determining directions, as by means of a freely rotating magnetized needle that indicates magnetic north.
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.
Researchers have proposed quantum compasses as highly accurate, "unjammable" alternatives to GPS that do not rely on satellites, and phonon lasers could help bring such concepts closer to reality.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 31, 2026
Guided by phosphorescent compasses strapped to their wrists, the divers reached the ship in just a few minutes.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
But something more nuanced emerges regarding our internal compasses in filmmaker Levan Akin’s “Crossing,” about a retired Georgian schoolteacher trying to track down her transgender niece in Istanbul.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024
He co-founded a company that began to manufacture this paint, which was used to illuminate aircraft instruments, compasses and watches.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2023
When seventeenth-century European sailors first saw the southern skies they put objects of seventeenth- century interest in the heavens—toucans and peacocks, telescopes and microscopes, compasses and the sterns of ships.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
