SAILING • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Sailing

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/sˈeɪlɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Sail v. t.

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."

2.

To fly through; to glide or move smoothly through. "Sublime she sails The aerial space, and mounts the wingèd gales."

3.

To direct or manage the motion of, as a vessel; as, to sail one's own ship.

Sail v. i. (past & past part. sailed; pres. part. sailing)

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."

noun

Sailing n.

1.

The act of one who, or that which, sails; the motion of a vessel on water, impelled by wind or steam; the act of starting on a voyage.

2.

(Naut.) The art of managing a vessel; seamanship; navigation; as, globular sailing; oblique sailing. Note: For the several methods of sailing, see under Circular, Globular, Oblique, Parallel, etc.

Sailing master (U. S. Navy), formerly, a warrant officer, ranking next below a lieutenant, whose duties were to navigate the vessel; and under the direction of the executive officer, to attend to the stowage of the hold, to the cables, rigging, etc. The grade was merged in that of master in 1862.

See images of 'Sailing'

Etymology of 'Sailing'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Sailing" Quotes from Famous Books

... contagious distemper, as well as reduced to extremity by want of provisions. They were even tantalized in their distress; for they had the mortification to see some ships which had arrived with supplies from England, prevented from sailing up the river by the batteries the enemy had raised on both sides, and a boom with which they had blocked up the channel. At length a reinforcement arrived in the Lough, under the command of general Kirke, who ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. - From William and Mary to George II. • Tobias Smollett

... it was a sight to behold the pretty mother of the seventeen sailing up the front walk like a great full-rigged ship. Miss Wingate flew down the steps to meet her and in a few seconds was enveloped and involved with little Hoover in an embrace that threatened to be disastrous to all concerned. Judy Pike ...

— The Road to Providence • Maria Thompson Daviess

... love of art was innate in the boy; and when he was only seven years old, he began to draw upon a slate a scene that particularly pleased him—a line of geese sailing upon the smooth glassy surface of a neighbouring pond. He drew them as an ordinary child almost always does draw—one goose after another, in profile, as though they were in procession, without any attempt at grouping or perspective in any way. His mother ...

— Biographies of Working Men • Grant Allen

... Delaware, where it sweeps over the low lands, sailing near the earth, in search of a kind of mouse very common in such situations, it is chiefly known as the Mouse Hawk. In the southern rice fields it is useful in preventing to some extent the ravages of the swarms of Bobolinks. It has been stated that one Marsh Hawk ...

— Birds Illustrated by Color Photography [May, 1897] - A Monthly Serial designed to Promote Knowledge of Bird-Life • Various

... she cried. "The council of Messire is safer and wiser than yours." She pointed to the rude stream, running rough and strong, a great gale following with it, so that no sailing-boats might come from the town. "You thought to beguile me, and are yourselves beguiled, for I bring you better succour than ever came to knight or town—the help of ...

— A Monk of Fife • Andrew Lang

Copyright © 2025 Free-Translator.com