Word.ws English Dictionary

box the compass

/bɒks ðə ˈkʌmpəs/

box the compass verb: to know, and demonstrate by reciting, the 32 points and quarter points of the magnetic compass from North or East, both clockwise and anticlockwise.

Verb

box the compass (third-person singular simple present boxes the compass, present participle boxing the compass, simple past and past participle boxed the compass)

  1. To know, and demonstrate by reciting, the 32 points and quarter points of the magnetic compass from North or East, both clockwise and anticlockwise.
    • While in the school-ships the boys would be instructed in the elements of an ordinary education, in addition to being taught to row, heave the lead, box the compass, go aloft, reef, steer, and work the guns.1859 September 30, The Times, page 10
    • I say it is south, for the country is more deserted there." "And I say east," said my patient. "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. […] "And I am for north," said I […] "Come," cried the Inspector, laughing, "it's a very pretty diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us."1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
  2. (idiomatic) To make a complete reversal in stance or opinion.

Forms of box the compass

third-person singular presentboxes the compass
present participleboxing the compass
past participleboxed the compass
pastboxed the compass

Questions about box the compass

What does box the compass mean?
Box the compass means to know, and demonstrate by reciting, the 32 points and quarter points of the magnetic compass from North or East, both clockwise and anticlockwise.
What part of speech is box the compass?
Box the compass is a verb.
How do you pronounce box the compass?
Box the compass is pronounced /bɒks ðə ˈkʌmpəs/.
What is the past tense of box the compass?
The past tense of box the compass is boxed the compass.

Words near box the compass in the dictionary

  1. box suppers
  2. box tail
  3. box tails
  4. box tent
  5. box tents
  6. box the compass
  7. box the gnat
  8. box the Jesuit
  9. box tree
  10. box tree moth
  11. box tree moths

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: box the compass (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-box the compass.ogg.

Cite this entry: “box the compass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/box_the_compass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.