Search the Dictionary

ferings or distresses of another or others; sympathy with the grief or misery of another; compassion; fellow- feeling; commiseration. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. Prov. xix. 17. He . . . has no more pity in him than a dog. Shak.

tholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b) A simple melody. -- Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of speech.

One of the points of the compass (see Points of the compass, below); also, the difference between two points of the compass; as, to fall off a point.

The limit or exterior line encompassing a place; a boundary; a confine; limit of jurisdiction or authority; -- often in the plural; as, the precincts of a state. "The precincts of light." Milton.

en passed through a prism; primary colors. See Primary colors, under Color. -- Prismatic compass (Surv.), a compass having a prism for viewing a distant object and the compass card at the same time. -- Prismatic spectrum (Opt.), the spectrum produced by the passage of light through a prism.

l to the logarithms of the natural numbers; a logarithmic scale. -- Proportional scales, compasses, dividers, etc. (Draughting), instruments used in making copies of drawings, or drawings of objects, on an enlarged or reduced scale.

Judaism, or a pagan converted to Christianity, is a proselyte. Ye [Scribes and Pharisees] compass sea and land to make one proselyte. Matt. xxiii. 15. Fresh confidence the speculatist takes From every harebrained proselyte he makes. Cowper.

e or combination; clean; mere; simple; unmixed; as, pure water; pure clay; pure air; pure compassion. The pure fetters on his shins great. Chaucer. A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy. I. Watts.

A close or inclosure; the compass of a manor. Bacon.

The box in which the compass is suspended; the binnacle. Weale.

Dipping toward all points of the compass round a center, as beds of lava round a crater.

Extent or space taken in by anything excursive; compass or extent of excursion; reach; scope; discursive; as, the range of one's voice, or authority. Far as creation's ample range extends. Pope. The range and compass of Hammond's knowledge filled the whole circle of the arts. Bp. Fell. A man has not enough range of tho…

observations, or from the record of the courses steered and distances sailed as shown by compass and log, -- in the latter case called dead reckoning (see under Dead); -- also used fro dead reckoning in contradistinction to observation.

ally: (a) (Naut.) An instrument used for determining and rectifying the variations of the compass on board ship. (b) (Chem.) A rectificator.

The compass of a voice or instrument; a specified portion of the compass of a voice, or a series of vocal tones of a given compass; as, the upper, middle, or lower register; the soprano register; the tenor register.

, harsh, cruel, or the like; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion. Can you . . . behold My sighs and tears, and will not once relent Shak.

Remorse; compunction; compassion. [Obs.] Killingbeck.

Sympathetic sorrow; pity; compassion. Curse on the unpardoning prince, whom tears can draw To no remorse. Dryden. But evermore it seem'd an easier thing At once without remorse to strike her dead. Tennyson.

Compassionate; feeling tenderly. [Obs.] Shak.

faction. [Obs.] Which makes the tragical ends of noble persons more favorably resented by compassionate readers. Sir T. Browne.