mariner's compass

American  

noun

1. a compass used for navigational purposes, consisting of a pivoted compass card in a gimbal-mounted, nonferrous metal bowl.

2. (initial capital letter) compass.

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Etymology

Origin of mariner's compass

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mariner's compass

Figure 36.—Unsigned wooden surveying compass, with an interesting example of a mariner's compass card.

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

Among the great inventions of the past are alphabetical writing, Arabic notation, the mariner's compass, the telescope, the printing-press, and the steam-engine.

From Inventions in the Century by Doolittle, William Henry

This great event was preceded by the general utilization in Europe of the polarity of the magnetic Portuguese exploration—Prince Henry the Navigator. needle in the construction of the mariner’s compass.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various

A mariner's compass is not "regulated," when the needle is made to move this way and that, at the will of an operator, without reference to the north pole.

From A Letter to Grover Cleveland On His False Inaugural Address, The Usurpations and Crimes of Lawmakers and Judges, and the Consequent Poverty, Ignorance, and Servitude Of The People by Spooner, Lysander

Another cause which powerfully contributed to the development of navigation, and consequently of shipbuilding, was the introduction of the mariner's compass into Western Europe during the first half of the thirteenth century.

From Ancient and Modern Ships. Part 1. Wooden Sailing Ships by Holmes, George C. V.