magnetic compass

noun — 2 senses

magnetic compass

noun
1

Government, Military, Nautical, Politics, Transport, War An instrument containing a freely suspended magnetic element which displays the direction of the horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic field at the point of observation.

2

A supposed organ, in some animals, that allows then to align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.