Word.ws English Dictionary

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)

  1. 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...
  2. 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
    Synonyms:
    cover, traverse
  3. (dated) 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
  4. (dated) 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
    Synonyms:
    conspire, plot, scheme

See all 15 meanings of compass

Adjective

compassed (comparative more compassed, superlative most compassed)

  1. (obsolete) rounded; arched
    • She came […] into the compassed window.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Forms of compassed

comparativemore compassed
superlativemost 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

  1. compass wallahs
  2. compass window
  3. compass windows
  4. compassable
  5. compasse
  6. compassed
  7. compassed out
  8. compassedst
  9. compasser
  10. compassers
  11. compasses

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.

Last updated:

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.