bearings

She's currently visiting Edinburgh, months ahead of curtain up, in order to get her bearings.

Until the last couple of days, the opposition has seemed to be paralyzed, trying to get its bearings under the onslaught.

They also found an air pistol, an SS-style skull mask, goggles and a respirator, fighting gloves with hardened knuckles, pellets, ball bearings, and hunting tips for crossbow arrows.

Shorn of their usual political compass bearings: party loyalty, ideology, an instinct on the extent or limits of the state, for instance, they have instead had to come to a very personal decision.

Their usual political compass bearings, party loyalty and a broad sense of being on the left or the right, count for little here.