Chapter Companionable to Compass of C by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

8. A pair of compasses. [R.] See Compasses.

To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please.
Swift.

9. A circle; a continent. [Obs.]

The tryne compas [the threefold world containing earth, sea, and heaven. Skeat.]
Chaucer.

Azimuth compass. See under Azimuth. — Beam compass. See under Beam. — Compass card, the circular card attached to the needles of a mariner's compass, on which are marked the thirty- two points or rhumbs. — Compass dial, a small pocket compass fitted with a sundial to tell the hour of the day. — Compass plane (Carp.), a plane, convex in the direction of its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave faces of curved woodwork. — Compass plant, Compass flower (Bot.), a plant of the American prairies (Silphium laciniatum), not unlike a small sunflower; rosinweed. Its lower and root leaves are vertical, and on the prairies are disposed to present their edges north and south.

Its leaves are turned to the north as true as the magnet:
This is the compass flower.
Longefellow.

—

Compass saw, a saw with a narrow blade, which will cut in a curve; — called also fret saw and keyhole saw. — Compass timber (Shipbuilding), curved or crooked timber. — Compass window (Arch.), a circular bay window or oriel window. — Mariner's compass, a kind of compass used in navigation. It has two or more magnetic needles permanently attached to a card, which moves freely upon a pivot, and is read with reference to a mark on the box representing the ship's head. The card is divided into thirty-two points, called also rhumbs, and the glass- covered box or bowl containing it is suspended in gimbals within the binnacle, in order to preserve its horizontal position. — Surveyor's compass, an instrument used in surveying for measuring horizontal angles. See Circumferentor. — Variation compass, a compass of delicate construction, used in observations on the variations of the needle. — To fetch a compass, to make a circuit.

Compass
(Com"pass) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compassed (- past); p. pr. & vb. n. Compassing.] [F. compasser, LL. compassare.]

1. To go about or entirely round; to make the circuit of.

Ye shall compass the city seven times.
Josh. vi. 4.

We the globe can compass soon.
Shak.

2. To inclose on all sides; to surround; to encircle; to environ; to invest; to besiege; — used with about, round, around, and round about.

With terrors and with clamors compassed round.
Milton.

Now all the blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about.
Shak.

Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round.
Luke xix. 43.

3. To reach round; to circumvent; to get within one's power; to obtain; to accomplish.

If I can check my erring love, I will:
If not, to compass her I'll use my skill.
Shak.

How can you hope to compass your designs?
Denham.

4. To curve; to bend into a circular form. [Obs. except in carpentry and shipbuilding.] Shak.