- present participle of sail.
sailing
Americannoun
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the activity of a person or thing that sails.
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the departure of a ship from port.
The cruise line offers sailings every other day.
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Navigation. any of various methods for determining courses and distances by means of charts or with reference to longitudes and latitudes, rhumb lines, great circles, etc.
noun
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the practice, art, or technique of sailing a vessel
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a method of navigating a vessel
rhumb-line sailing
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an instance of a vessel's leaving a port
scheduled for a midnight sailing
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sailing
before 900; Middle English seiling, Old English seglung. See sail, -ing 1
Explanation
The activity or sport of riding in a boat that's propelled by the wind is sailing. If not even the slightest breeze is blowing, it's not a great day for sailing. Sailing can be as simple as jumping aboard a friend's sailboat and taking a ride on a lake. Being in charge of piloting the boat, shifting the sails, and keeping it moving on the water, is also sailing. If you're curious how it's done, you can take sailing lessons!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Life on the ship, however, wasn’t always smooth sailing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The Stena Line sailing between Dublin and Holyhead has not been affected.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
As the harvest shifts, Maine's lobstermen are sailing out to deeper waters -- on bigger boats, using more diesel and crew.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
In the summer of 1952, while sailing on an ocean liner to Europe, he met Phyllis Culbertson, a Smith College student.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
And that’s when he spotted them: two enormous sailing ships.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
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