compartment

noun com·part·ment \ kəm-ˈpärt-mənt \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: compartment in a Sentence

Definition of compartment

1 : a separate division or section

2 : one of the parts into which an enclosed space is divided

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compartmental

play \kəm-ˌpärt-ˈmen-tᵊl, ˌkäm-\ adjective

See compartment defined for English-language learners

See compartment defined for kids

Examples of compartment in a Sentence

The suitcase has a zippered compartment for personal items.
The refrigerator has a separate compartment for meats.

Recent Examples of compartment from the Web

Some teams employed a decidedly low-tech cooling method: shielding their battery and motor compartments with ordinary umbrellas.

— jack ewing, New York Times, "Racing Series Helps Show the Way to a Battery-Powered Future," 5 July 2018
Men in bright vests rushed to its side, hooked up thick hoses to its retardant compartment, and started pumping.

— julia sclafani and jordan cutler-tietjen, sacbee, "Seen those tankers above Sacramento? The low-down on Cal Fire's biggest base at McClellan," 3 July 2018
Had gathering before lights out in our compartments.

— phoebe wall howard, Detroit Free Press, "Service Diary of a Corpsman: Roy L. Wall, LST 509," 28 May 2018
Besides food, the robots could also deliver supplies such as phone chargers, ink cartridges, printed materials or basically anything that would fit in their compartments, which are the size of two large grocery bags.

— carolyn said, San Francisco Chronicle, "Robots from Starship to carry food on corporate, college campuses," 30 Apr. 2018
The cabin pressure dropped and oxygen masks fell from their compartments.

— christine dempsey, courant.com, "Yesterday Wasn't My Time: Stamford Man Recounts Horrific Southwest Flight," 18 Apr. 2018
My first impression of my compartment (2A, a single, to which I was escorted briskly, lest any encounter shatter that illusion of privacy) was, once again, one of the jaw-dropping generosity of space.

— david denicolo, Town & Country, "Here's What It's Like to Fly in the Ultimate First Class Cabin," 14 Mar. 2018
His company’s plan is to attach its own compartments to the existing International Space Station and, once the decision is made to dismantle the complex, detach its segment and continue orbiting on its own.

— marcia dunn, The Seattle Times, "Trump aims for moon, pulls back on space station, telescopes," 12 Feb. 2018
Finally, a totally underground tunnel boring method was developed, using a frame that allowed many workers to bore the tunnel in their own compartments, minimizing the risk of the tunnel collapsing.

— sophie weiner, Popular Mechanics, "How Was the London Underground Built?," 30 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'compartment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of compartment

Middle French compartiment, from Italian compartimento, from compartire to mark out in parts, from Late Latin compartiri to share out, from Latin com- + partiri to share, from part-, pars part, share

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1578

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

compartment Synonyms

Synonyms

bay, cabin, cell, chamber, cube, cubicle;

Related Words

cubbyhole, pigeonhole;

alcove, niche, nook, recess;

cabinet, drawer, locker;

cavity, hole, hollow;

booth, box, crib, loge, stall;

bunker, crypt, vault;

compartment

verb com·part·ment \ kəm-ˈpärt-ˌment , -mənt \

Definition of compartment

compartmented; compartmenting; compartments

transitive verb

: compartmentalize

Examples of compartment in a Sentence

compartment the responses according to country of origin

Recent Examples of compartment from the Web

Kushner has not been approved to review ‘‘sensitive compartmented information,’’ known as SCI.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Trump falsely claims for a third time that Reagan lost Wisconsin, but he was able to win it," 13 July 2018
Sharing highly compartmented, classified information with Russians is a theatrical distraction from the greater good of polluting streams, enabling predatory financial practices, cutting taxes, and taking people’s health care away.

— brian beutler, New Republic, "“No Drama” McConnell is turning the cynical subtext of the GOP’s devil’s bargain with Trump into text.," 16 May 2017

First Known Use of compartment

1918

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

compartment Synonyms

Synonyms

assort, break down, categorize, class, classify, codify, compartmentalize, digest, distinguish, distribute, grade, group, peg, place, range, rank, relegate, separate, sort, type;

Near Antonyms

confuse, disarrange, jumble, lump, mix (up), scramble;

misclassify, missort, mistype;

alphabetize, catalog (or catalogue), file, index, list, refer;

pigeonhole, shelve;

identify, recognize;

cull, screen, set, sieve, sift, winnow;

clump, cluster;

recategorize, reclassify, regroup;

subcategorize;

COMPARTMENT Defined for English Language Learners

compartment

noun

Definition of compartment for English Language Learners

: an enclosed space or area that is usually part of something larger and is often used to hold a specific thing
: one of the separate areas of an automobile, train, or airplane