sail Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel
    canvass; canvas; sheet.
  2. noun an ocean trip taken for pleasure
    cruise.
  3. noun any structure that resembles a sail
  4. verb traverse or travel on (a body of water)
    • We sailed the Atlantic
    • He sailed the Pacific all alone
  5. verb move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions
    sweep.
    • The diva swept into the room
    • Shreds of paper sailed through the air
    • The searchlights swept across the sky
  6. verb travel on water propelled by wind
    • I love sailing, especially on the open sea
    • the ship sails on
  7. verb travel on water propelled by wind or by other means
    voyage; navigate.
    • The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow

WordNet

Sail noun
Etymology
OE. seil, AS. segel, segl; akin to D. zeil, OHG. segal, G. & Sw. segel, Icel. segl, Dan. seil. &root; 153.
Definitions
  1. An extent of canvas or other fabric by means of which the wind is made serviceable as a power for propelling vessels through the water.
    Behoves him now both sail and oar. Milton.
  2. Anything resembling a sail, or regarded as a sail.
  3. A wing; a van. Poetic
    Like an eagle soaring To weather his broad sails. Spenser
    .
  4. the extended surface of the arm of a windmill.
  5. A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft. ✍ In this sense, the plural has usually the same forms as the singular; as, twenty sail were in sight.
  6. A passage by a sailing vessel; a journey or excursion upon the water. ✍ Sails are of two general kinds, fore-and-aft sails, and square sails. Square sails are always bent to yards, with their foot lying across the line of the vessel. Fore-and-aft sails are set upon stays or gaffs with their foot in line with the keel. A fore-and-aft sail is triangular, or quadrilateral with the after leech longer than the fore leech. Square sails are quardrilateral, but not necessarily square. See Phrases under Fore, a., and Square, a.; also, Bark, Brig, Schooner, Ship, Stay.
Sail intransitive verb
Etymology
AS. segelian, seglian. See Sail, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Sailed ; present participle & verbal noun Sailing
Definitions
  1. To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by the action of steam or other power.
  2. To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a water fowl.
  3. To be conveyed in a vessel on water; to pass by water; as, they sailed from London to Canton.
  4. To set sail; to begin a voyage.
  5. To move smoothly through the air; to glide through the air without apparent exertion, as a bird.
    As is a winged messenger of heaven, . . . When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, And sails upon the bosom of the air. Shak.
Sail transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pass or move upon, as in a ship, by means of sails; hence, to move or journey upon(the water) by means of steam or other force.
    A thousand ships were manned to sail the sea. Dryden.
  2. To fly through; to glide or move smoothly through.
    Sublime she sails The aërial space, and mounts the winged gales. Pope.
  3. To direct or manage the motion of, as a vessel; as, to sail one's own ship. Totten.

Webster 1913