The Collaborative International Dictionary
Compass \Com"pass\ (k[u^]m"pas), n. [F. compas, fr. LL. compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus pace, step. See Pace, Pass.]
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A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
They fetched a compass of seven day's journey.
--2 Kings iii. 9.This day I breathed first; time is come round, And where I did begin, there shall I end; My life is run his compass.
--Shak. An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.
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An inclosed space; an area; extent.
Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass.
--Addison. -
Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of his eye; the compass of imagination.
The compass of his argument.
--Wordsworth. -
Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; -- used with within.
In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed.
--Sir J. Davies. -
(Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity of a voice or instrument.
You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass.
--Shak. -
An instrument for determining directions upon the earth's surface by means of a magnetized bar or needle turning freely upon a pivot and pointing in a northerly and southerly direction.
He that first discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses.
--Locke. -
A pair of compasses. [R.] See Compasses.
To fix one foot of their compass wherever they please.
--Swift. -
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.
Wiktionary
n. A narrow, slender saw, used in cutting keyholes, etc.; a kind of compass saw or fretsaw.
WordNet
n. a handsaw for cutting short radius curves; similar to a compass saw
Wikipedia
A keyhole saw (also called a pad saw, alligator saw, jab saw or drywall saw) is a long, narrow saw used for cutting small, often awkward features in various building materials. There are typically two varieties of keyhole saw: the fixed blade type and retractable blade type.
The retractable blade variety is usually found to have either a cast iron handle or, less commonly, a wooden handle. The facility to retract the blade to an optimum length serves to prevent unwanted flex to the blade should the full length of the blade be obstructed in some way. In both types the blade is typically secured by one or two holding/thumb screws.
The cheaper fixed blade type is more commonly used in the modern construction trade. With the advance of certain building methods and materials, designs specific to these trades have been developed. One such modification being a sharpened point at the tip of the blade which can be pushed or jabbed through soft materials such as drywall without drilling a hole for the blade.
Compass saws typically feature a larger, coarser blade, and are designed to cut though tougher materials.
Two power tools serving largely the same function but which work more quickly and with less effort are the jigsaw and spiral saw.
Usage examples of "keyhole saw".
Then he laid aside the brace and bit, and took the keyhole saw, with which he patiently sawed through the wood between contiguous holes, until, the circle completed, he lifted out a section of the floor leaving an aperture large enough to permit him to squeeze his body through when the time arrived for him to pass into the bank beneath.
He could not have cut the lock out of the door more neatly with a keyhole saw and an hour in which to work.
And anyway, the wax was so strong that she would need a keyhole saw to cut through it, and of course Xanth didn't have such machines.
He stepped in out of the sunlight, and right off he found a half dozen things to buy: a keyhole saw, an old bottle jack, some heavy brass strap hinges for a nickel a throw that even back then were worth five bucks.
She watched him stop by a tool kit, retrieve a type of keyhole saw, then keep on coming.
He took a keyhole saw down, and with an oil rag wiped it carefully and replaced it.
To the right was a long and littered workbench with a hand grinder at one end, a vise, a keyhole saw.
Firstly there was a compact tool kit which contained a keyhole saw and hand drill, drill bits and augers, a box of hearing-aid batteries for the detonator and torch batteries for the transmitter, a Penlite torch, a five-hundred-foot roll of thin electrical wire, diamond glass-cutters, putty, staples and tiny one-ounce tins of touch-up paint.
But no rat made thosethey were neat and smooth and round, almost as if a carpenter had cut them with a keyhole saw.