From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcompartmentcom‧part‧ment /kəmˈpɑːtmənt $ -ɑːr-/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 TDa smaller enclosed space inside something larger The bag is divided into separate compartments. engine compartment She kept the money hidden in a secret compartment in her briefcase. → glove compartment2 TTone of the separate areas into which a plane, ship, or train is divided a first-class compartment
Examples from the Corpus
compartment• It involves removing steel partitions, twenty-five feet tall, that presently separate each compartment.• Put the ice cream back in the freezer compartment when you are finished.• Certain cargoes were transported in compartment boats.• Modern man sees life as separated into compartments, as mechanistic interactions, where consciousness has no meaning.• I walked down the corridors of Hard Class to my compartment, to pack my belongings.• This intrinsic modifiability also makes it possible to absorb disturbances and protect other compartments.• The worst aspect of Hinduism is undoubtedly the caste system, which kept the population cooped up in so many separate compartments.• The whole toilet compartment had been splashed.engine compartment• It detonated directly beneath U-494's engine compartment.• He'd opened the smashed engine compartment, and was pointing to where the battery wasn't.• Start off by cleaning down all the oily and greasy bits - the engine compartment, undercarriage and control surface hinges.• Two large side panels, which are removed by undoing two knots, cover each side of the engine compartment.• For example, closed circuit television gives the helmsman a view of the engine compartment and of the aft deck of the boat.• The engine compartment is completely wax protected and the whole car has three layers of paint rather than two.first-class compartment• He boarded the train for the overnight journey and entered a first-class compartment with his first-class ticket.• As it was early afternoon there were no madding crowds, and she secured a first-class compartment to herself.• He found an empty first-class compartment, and she reached it by way of the corridor after the train had pulled out.• He always sat at the end of the second coach, in the small, first-class compartment with red plush seats.Origin compartment (1500-1600) French compartiment, from Italian, from compartire “to mark out into parts” 