prismatic compass
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of prismatic compass
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.
He was unarmed, but carried a prismatic compass in a leather case with a strap.
From Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Roosevelt, Theodore
The trouble was overcome by building snow-mounds and taking back-angles to them with the prismatic compass.
From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir
The local attraction was so great on this hill that the prismatic compass was useless; luckily I had my pocket sextant with me, by which I obtained the included angles.
From Explorations in Australia, Illustrated, by Forrest, John
He was a familiar figure at the outposts, on his steadily ambling nag, armed with his prismatic compass, his odometer, and his sketch-book.
From Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, Volume 2 November 1863-June 1865 by Cox, Jacob Dolson
On all the hills in this neighbourhood the local attraction is so great that the prismatic compass is useless.
From Explorations in Australia, Illustrated, by Forrest, John
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.
