| com·pass
Audio Help (kŭm'pəs, kŏm'-) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. com·passed, com·pass·ing, com·pass·es
adj.
[Middle English compas, circle, compass, from Old French, from compasser, to measure, from Vulgar Latin *compassāre, to pace off : Latin com-, com- + Latin passus, step; see pace1.] com'pass·a·ble adj. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Compassing
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Compassing
Com"pass\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compassed; 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. 5. (Law) To purpose; to intend; to imagine; to plot. Compassing and imagining the death of the king are synonymous terms; compassing signifying the purpose or design of the mind or will, and not, as in common speech, the carrying such design to effect. --Blackstone.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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