compassing

compassing is the present participle and gerund of compass.

Meaning of compass

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...
Synonyms:

encircle, environ, surround
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
(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
Synonyms:

accomplish, achieve, attain, gain, get to, reach
(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

compassing (comparative more compassing, superlative most compassing)

compassing (plural compassings)

(dated) The forming of plots or schemes; machination.
- If this proposition needed a reply, it would be sufficient to point to what we have already shown. But take the external circumstances surrounding the case, and they discover that inward intention of the prisoner. His deliberate compassings, the nature and character of the act done, the...1878, Texas. Court of Appeals, Alexander Melvorne Jackson, Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Appeals of the State of Texas

From Middle English compassynge; equivalent to compass + -ing.

What does compassing mean?: Compassing means curved; bent.
What is compassing the present participle and gerund of?: Compassing is the present participle and gerund of compass.
What part of speech is compassing?: Compassing can be an adjective or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: compassing (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: 2026-09-02

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