sail
verb
- travel in a sailing ship
noun
- surface supported by a mast to propel a sailing vessel
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /seɪl/ / [seɪɫ]
noun
Etymology: From Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Old English seġl, from Proto-West Germanic *segl, from Proto-Germanic *seglą. Cognate with West Frisian seil, Low German Segel, Dutch zeil, German Segel, Danish sejl, Swedish segel.
- A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.
“When we haue laught to ſee the ſailes conceiue / And grow big bellied with the wanton winde; […]”
- The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance.
“Take in sail: a storm is coming.”
- The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport.
- A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat.
“Let's go for a sail.”
- A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft.
“Twenty sail were in sight.”
“"[…] The quay is upwards of 1,000 feet in length, and capable of accommodating more than 100 sail of traders; and there are generally a considerable number of vessels of from 40 to 300 tons burden, from various parts of the world, waiting to receive their cargoes."”
- The conning tower of a submarine.
- The blade of a windmill.
“So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death.”
- A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines.
- The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war.
- A sailfish.
“We caught three sails today.”
- an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids
- Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing.
“Like an eagle […]soaring / / To weather his broad sails.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English sailen, saylen, seilen, seilien, from Old English seġlan, siġlan (“to sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglijan, from *siglijaną. Cognate with West Frisian sile, Low German seilen, Dutch zeilen, German segeln, Danish sejle, Swedish segla, Icelandic sigla.
- 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 steam or other power.
“Fair ship, that from the Italian shore, Sailest the placid ocean-plains With my lost Arthur’s loved remains, Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.”
- To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl.
- To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat.
- To set sail; to begin a voyage.
“We sail for Australia tomorrow.”
- To move briskly and gracefully through the air.
“As is a winged messenger of heaven, […] / When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, / And sails upon the bosom of the air.”
“[flavor text of the card "Spirit of the Winds"] A spirit of the wind that freely sails the skies.”
- To move briskly but sedately.
“The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.”
- To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface.
“He would sit his hat across the room, and we would sail cards into it.”