compassed
/ˈkʌmpəst/
compassed is the simple past and past participle of compass.
Meaning of compass
Verb
compass (third-person singular simple present compasses, present participle compassing, simple past and past participle compassed)
- To surround; to encircle; to environ; to stretch round.
- Now all the blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about!1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- Now all the blessings
- To go about or round entirely; to traverse.
- So she goeth around the hill compassing.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 174
- To accomplish; to reach; to achieve; to obtain.
- […] tho' theſe ſeem'd to be very unfit Inſtruments for compaſſing of that great Deſign for which they were then employ'd, becauſe of their Inability and Uncapacity in performing the Work ſo very great and important; […]1720, John Shaw, “Of Religion”, in The Fundamental Doctrines of the Church of England, […], volume I, London: […] George Strahan, […] William Mears, […], page 36
- To plot; to scheme (against someone).
- That he plotted and compassed to raise Sedition and Rebellion [...]1600, R. Bagshaw, “The Arraignment and Judgement of Captain Thomas Lee”, in Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials, volume 1, published 1809, pages 1403–04
Adjective
compassed (comparative more compassed, superlative most compassed)
Forms of compassed
| comparative | more compassed |
|---|---|
| superlative | most compassed |
Words formed from compassed
Phrases with compassed
Questions about compassed
- What does compassed mean?
- Compassed means rounded; arched.
- What is compassed the simple past and past participle of?
- Compassed is the simple past and past participle of compass.
- What part of speech is compassed?
- Compassed is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce compassed?
- Compassed is pronounced /ˈkʌmpəst/.
Words near compassed in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: compassed (page history and authors); 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-compassed.wav.
Cite this entry: “compassed.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/compassed. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
