- (also magnetic compass)[countable]
an instrument for finding direction, with a needle that always points to the north 罗盘；罗经；指南针；罗盘仪 
a map and compass 地图和指南针 the points of the compass (= N, S, E, W, etc.) 罗经方位点（东、南、西、北等）
Extra ExamplesTopics Hobbiesb2A compass shows you which direction is north. 指南针会指示北方。 People arrived from all points of the compass. 人们从四面八方到达。 The railway fanned out from Moscow to all points of the compass. 铁路从莫斯科向各个方向延伸。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- digital
- magnetic
- use
- check
- show something
- needle
- bearing
- reading
- …
- a map and compass
- the points of the compass
- [countable] (also compasses [plural])
an instrument with two long thin parts joined together at the top, used for drawing circles and measuring distances on a map 圆规；两脚规 
a pair of compasses 一副圆规
- [singular] (formal)
a range or an extent, especially of what can be achieved in a particular situation 范围；范畴；界限 the compass of a singer’s voice (= the range from the lowest to the highest note that he or she can sing) 歌手的音域
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French compas (noun), compasser (verb), based on Latin com- ‘together’ + passus ‘a step or pace’. Several senses (‘measure’, ‘artifice’, ‘circumscribed area’, and ‘pair of compasses’) which appeared in Middle English are also found in Old French, but their development and origin are uncertain. The transference of sense to the magnetic compass occurred in the related Italian word compasso, from the circular shape of the compass box.