mariner's compass

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mariner's compass¹

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

Shelley painted the mariner’s compass quilt square on the horse barn at the fairgrounds facing U.S.

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The inventions of the mariner's compass, of gunpowder, and of rag paper were all, indeed, of extreme importance; but no part of the credit of them belongs to the monks.

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Tides were a mystery to him, the mariner's compass an unknown quantity.

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After the earlier Atlantic expeditions Sir William Thomson turned his attention to the construction of navigational instruments, and invented the mariner's compass and wire-sounding apparatus which are now so well known.

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He praised Chinese craftsmanship and skill, and extolled the talents of the people which had invented the mariner's compass, printing, porcelain, gunpowder, tea, silks, arches, and suspension bridges.90 He urged the revival of the talents of the Chinese, and the return of material development.

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