the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
adj. Curved; bent.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
In ship-building, incurvated, curved, or bent: as, compassing timbers. See compass, v. t, 6.
Word Usage
"Irritated by this reply, and the contemptuous glance with which it was accompanied, the vindictive triumvirate turned from the king to his court; and having failed in compassing the destruction of Bruce and his more renowned friend, they determined at least to make a wreck of their moral fame."