6  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Compact  \Com*pact"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Compacted};  p.  pr  & 
  vb  n.  {Compacting}.] 
  1.  To  thrust,  drive,  or  press  closely  together;  to  join 
  firmly;  to  consolidate;  to  make  close  --  as  the  parts 
  which  compose  a  body. 
 
  Now  the  bright  sun  compacts  the  precious  stone. 
  --Blackstone. 
 
  2.  To  unite  or  connect  firmly,  as  in  a  system. 
 
  The  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted 
  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth  --Eph.  iv  16. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Compact  \Com"pact\,  n.  [L.  compactum  fr  compacisci  p.  p. 
  compactus  to  make  an  agreement  with  com-  +  pacisci  to  make 
  an  agreement.  See  {Pact}.] 
  An  agreement  between  parties;  a  covenant  or  contract. 
 
  The  law  of  nations  depends  on  mutual  compacts, 
  treaties,  leagues,  etc  --Blackstone. 
 
  Wedlock  is  described  as  the  indissoluble  compact. 
  --Macaulay. 
 
  The  federal  constitution  has  been  styled  a  compact 
  between  the  States  by  which  it  was  ratified.  --Wharton. 
 
  Syn:  See  {Covenant}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Compact  \Com*pact"\  (k[o^]m*p[a^]kt"),  p.  p.  &  a  [L.  compactus 
  p.  p.  of  compingere  to  join  or  unite;  com-  +  pangere  to 
  fasten,  fix:  cf  F.  compacte.  See  {Pact}.] 
  1.  Joined  or  held  together;  leagued;  confederated.  [Obs.] 
  ``Compact  with  her  that's  gone.''  --Shak. 
 
  A  pipe  of  seven  reeds,  compact  with  wax  together. 
  --Peacham. 
 
  2.  Composed  or  made  --  with  of  [Poetic] 
 
  A  wandering  fire,  Compact  of  unctuous  vapor. 
  --Milton. 
 
  3.  Closely  or  firmly  united,  as  the  particles  of  solid 
  bodies;  firm;  close  solid;  dense. 
 
  Glass,  crystal,  gems,  and  other  compact  bodies. 
  --Sir  I. 
  Newton. 
 
  4.  Brief;  close  pithy;  not  diffuse;  not  verbose;  as  a 
  compact  discourse. 
 
  Syn:  Firm;  close  solid;  dense;  pithy;  sententious. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  compact 
  adj  1:  closely  and  firmly  united  or  packed  together;  "compact 
  soil";  "compact  clusters  of  flowers"  [ant:  {loose}] 
  2:  closely  crowded  together;  "a  compact  shopping  center";  "a 
  dense  population";  "thick  crowds"  [syn:  {dense},  {thick}] 
  3:  heavy  and  compact  in  form  or  stature;  "a  wrestler  of  compact 
  build";  "he  was  tall  and  heavyset";  "stocky  legs";  "a 
  thick  middle-aged  man";  "a  thickset  young  man"  [syn:  {heavyset}, 
  {stocky},  {thick},  {thickset}] 
  4:  briefly  giving  the  gist  of  something  "a  short  and 
  compendious  book";  "a  compact  style  is  brief  and  pithy"; 
  "succinct  comparisons";  "a  summary  formulation  of  a 
  wide-ranging  subject"  [syn:  {compendious},  {succinct},  {summary}] 
  n  1:  a  small  cosmetics  case  with  a  mirror;  to  be  carried  in  a 
  woman's  purse  [syn:  {powder  compact}] 
  2:  a  signed  written  agreement  between  two  or  more  parties 
  (nations)  to  perform  some  action  [syn:  {covenant},  {concordat}] 
  3:  a  small  and  economical  car  [syn:  {compact  car}] 
  v  1:  compress  into  a  wad;  "wad  paper  into  the  box"  [syn:  {pack}, 
  {bundle},  {wad}] 
  2:  make  more  compact  by  or  as  if  by  pressing;  "compress  the 
  data"  [syn:  {compress},  {pack  together}] 
  3:  squeeze  or  press  together;  "she  compressed  her  lips"  [syn:  {compress}, 
  {constrict},  {squeeze},  {contract},  {press}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  compact  adj  Of  a  design,  describes  the  valuable  property  that 
  it  can  all  be  apprehended  at  once  in  one's  head.  This  generally  means  the 
  thing  created  from  the  design  can  be  used  with  greater  facility  and  fewer 
  errors  than  an  equivalent  tool  that  is  not  compact.  Compactness  does 
  not  imply  triviality  or  lack  of  power;  for  example,  C  is  compact  and 
  FORTRAN  is  not  but  C  is  more  powerful  than  FORTRAN.  Designs  become 
  non-compact  through  accreting  {feature}s  and  {cruft}  that  don't  merge 
  cleanly  into  the  overall  design  scheme  (thus,  some  fans  of  {Classic  C} 
  maintain  that  ANSI  C  is  no  longer  compact). 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  compact 
 
  1.  (Or  "finite",  "isolated")  In  {domain  theory},  an  element  d 
  of  a  {cpo}  D  is  compact  if  and  only  if  for  any  {chain}  S,  a 
  subset  of  D, 
 
  d  <=  lub  S  =>  there  exists  s  in  S  such  that  d  <=  s. 
 
  I.e.  you  always  reach  d  (or  better)  after  a  finite  number  of 
  steps  up  the  chain. 
 
  ("<="  is  written  in  {LaTeX}  as  {\sqsubseteq}). 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1995-01-13) 
 
  2.  Of  a  design,  describes  the  valuable  property  that  it  can 
  all  be  apprehended  at  once  in  one's  head.  This  generally 
  means  the  thing  created  from  the  design  can  be  used  with 
  greater  facility  and  fewer  errors  than  an  equivalent  tool  that 
  is  not  compact.  Compactness  does  not  imply  triviality  or  lack 
  of  power;  for  example,  {C}  is  compact  and  {Fortran}  is  not 
  but  C  is  more  powerful  than  Fortran.  Designs  become 
  non-compact  through  accreting  {feature}s  and  {cruft}  that 
  don't  merge  cleanly  into  the  overall  design  scheme  (thus,  some 
  fans  of  {Classic  C}  maintain  that  {ANSI  C}  is  no  longer 
  compact). 
 
  (1995-01-13) 
 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words