set sail
Also, make sail. Begin a voyage on water, as in Dad rented a yacht, and we're about to set sail for the Caribbean, or We'll make sail for the nearest port. These expressions, dating from the early 1500s, originally meant “put the sails in position to catch the wind,” and hence cause the vessel to move.
Words Nearby set sail
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use set sail in a sentence
Then they set sail for open water, where they were assured someone would rescue them.
Inside the Smuggling Networks Flooding Europe with Refugees | Barbie Latza Nadeau | December 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOn August 22, some 88 ships set sail for the southern point of Brooklyn allowing more than 22,000 troops to begin their attack.
The British Royals Reinvade Brooklyn: William and Kate Come Watch Basketball on Historic Battle Site | Justin Jones | December 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSome 7,000 Confederates set sail for Brazil in the aftermath of the American Civil War, settling in a city called Americana.
With funding from ten private donors, the first abortion ship, Aurora, set sail for Ireland in 2001.
Vessel's Dr. Rebecca Gomperts on Providing Abortions to Women in International Waters | Marlow Stern | March 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe was 56 when he set sail in 1967 and wandered the high seas, getting kicked out of foreign ports.
15 Scientology Revelations From Lawrence Wright’s ‘Going Clear’ | The Daily Beast | January 16, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
I shall do so, God willing, as soon as the vessels about to go to Nueva España have set sail.
So once more the ships set sail, and soon reached the shores of one of the Philippines, but a short distance from Alila's home.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeJust as the fleet was about to set sail again, something happened to change Magellan's plans.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeAnd with that he bid me ‘Good day,’ and on the morrow he set sail in a full-rigged ship for the sunny land of Spain.
The Whale and the Grasshopper | Seumas O'BrienHither came to me Captain Lambert to take his leave of me, he being this day to set sail for the Straights.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel Pepys
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