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Compact   /kˈɑmpækt/  /kəmpˈækt/   Listen
noun
Compact  n.  An agreement between parties; a covenant or contract. "The law of nations depends on mutual compacts, treaties, leagues, etc." "Wedlock is described as the indissoluble compact." "The federal constitution has been styled a compact between the States by which it was ratified."
Synonyms: See Covenant.



verb
Compact  v. t.  (past & past part. compacted; pres. part. 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."
2.
To unite or connect firmly, as in a system. "The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth."



Compact  past part., adj.  
1.
Joined or held together; leagued; confederated. (Obs.) "Compact with her that's gone." "A pipe of seven reeds, compact with wax together."
2.
Composed or made; with of. (Poetic) "A wandering fire, Compact of unctuous vapor."
3.
Closely or firmly united, as the particles of solid bodies; firm; close; solid; dense. "Glass, crystal, gems, and other compact bodies."
4.
Brief; close; pithy; not diffuse; not verbose; as, a compact discourse.
Synonyms: Firm; close; solid; dense; pithy; sententious.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Compact" Quotes from Famous Books



... most amazing thing in the world to observe the large expansion of this graundee when open; and when closed (as it all is in a moment upon the party's descent) to see it sit so close and compact to the body, as no tailor can come up to it; and then the several ribs lie so justly disposed in the several parts, that instead of being, as one would imagine, a disadvantage to the shape, they make ...
— Life And Adventures Of Peter Wilkins, Vol. I. (of II.) • Robert Paltock

... the presence of keepers, owner, and friends. His feelings were so acute and his remorse so great that, in their pity, they had resolved to spare him; and then, on the spot, entered into a solemn compact that no one should be told. Encouraged by the forbearing tenderness, the unfortunate one ventured to return to the house of his friend, the owner of the wood, hoping that, in spite of the sacrilege committed, he might be able to face a world that would be ignorant of his crime. ...
— Phineas Redux • Anthony Trollope

... pines. Wasting no words, he merely stepped back to unbuckle the shaggy pony, and at the ensuing noonday meal Arthur for the first time tasted the wilderness preserve called 'pemmican.' It was not unlike what housewives at home denominate 'collar,' he thought, cutting in compact slices of interwoven fat ...
— Cedar Creek - From the Shanty to the Settlement • Elizabeth Hely Walshe

... "an excellent woman of business." He was now fifteen years older than when he had "lost" Isopel. The motives which prompted this scorner of matrimony to marry a woman seven or eight years his senior were similar, it may be surmised, to those which actuated Disraeli on his marriage. The compact was based upon convenience and mutual esteem, and there is no reason to doubt that it conduced not only to Borrow's comfort and security, but also to his happiness. There were no children. The "daughter" whose accomplishments Borrow celebrated in the exordium to "Wild Wales" was his stepdaughter, ...
— George Borrow - Times Literary Supplement, 10th July 1903 • Thomas Seccombe

... parents, Whose only thought is to swell for our sakes their goods and possessions, And who deprive themselves of much, to save for their children. But, alas, not saving alone, for enjoyment hereafter, Constitutes happiness, no, not heaps of gold or of silver, Neither field upon field, however compact the estate be. For the father grows old, and his son at the same time grows older, Feeling no joy in To-day, and full of care for To-morrow. Now look down from this height, and see how beauteous before us Lies ...
— The Poems of Goethe • Goethe


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