Definition of Compasses

1. n. An instrument for describing circles, measuring figures, etc., consisting of two, or (rarely) more, pointed branches, or legs, usually joined at the top by a rivet on which they move.

Definition of Compasses

1. Noun. (plural of compass) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Compasses

1. compass [v] - See also: compass

Literary usage of Compasses

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry by Henry Gough, James Parker (1894)
"Argent, a chevron engrailed between three pairs of compasses expanded at the points ... Argent, an annulet between the legs of a pair of compasses sable ..."

2. Report of the Annual Meeting (1855)
"They made their request in the belief that the compasses of iron vessels, if aided by all the appliances which science at present afforded, and adjusted and ..."

3. Commercial Nomenclature by John K. Chandler, John C. Redman, Virginia H. Wood, Caroline S. Larner (1897)
"Compasses, Quadrant. Compasses, Registering. Compasses, Self-Registering. ... Compasses, Vernier. Compass Boards. Compass Planes. Compass Saws. ..."

4. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society by Royal Meteorological Society (Great Britain) (1908)
"Lightning and Compasses. On 15th June last, in the vicinity of Rottnest Island, the P. and 0. steamship Britannia (Capt. S. Barcham) was under the influence ..."

5. Theory and Applications of Finite Groups by George Abram Miller, Hans Frederick Blichfeldt, Leonard Eugene Dickson (1916)
"CHAPTER XVII CONSTRUCTIONS WITH RULER AND Compasses 168. Some Celebrated Problems of Greek Origin. In the Delian problem of the duplication of a cube, ..."

6. An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great by John Woody Papworth (1874)
"COMET «ее Estoile Compasses and in hue Arg. a pair of compasses extended and ... HADLEY, V. 3 Compasses Az. three pair of compasses extended or pointed sa. ..."

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