mariner's compass
Americannoun
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a compass used for navigational purposes, consisting of a pivoted compass card in a gimbal-mounted, nonferrous metal bowl.
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(initial capital letter) compass.
Etymology
Origin of mariner's compass
First recorded in 1620–30
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.
Tides were a mystery to him, the mariner's compass an unknown quantity.
From With Beatty off Jutland A Romance of the Great Sea Fight by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
Yet we would surely be regarded as very credulous if we could be induced to believe that the mariner's compass has originated in that way.
From The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science by Dawson, John William
Why, they found out all about gunpowder and printing and the mariner’s compass, when Europe was sunk in the lowest depths of ignorance.
From Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator by Duffield, J. W.
If the problem to be solved were the origin of the mariner's compass, one might assert that it is wholly a physical arrangement both as to matter and force.
From The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science by Dawson, John William
Gimbal, gim′bal, n. a contrivance for suspending the mariner's compass, so as to keep it always horizontal.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
