full sail
Americannoun
adverb
-
with all sails set.
The ship was moving ahead full sail.
-
rapidly; forcefully.
He proceeded full sail despite our objections.
adverb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of full sail
First recorded in 1585–95
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.
Among the vignettes arrayed across the background plane are a ship at full sail, another docked and being unloaded, a lighthouse and a sacrifice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
The penmanship is deft, confident – at the island’s southern end is an intricate compass rose, and the sketch of a galleon at full sail.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 22, 2018
“Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA,” the art extravaganza that fills some 70 Southern California art institutions to celebrate the foundational presence of Latin American art in the region, is now under full sail.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2017
Her voice grew gentle, almost maternal—it was like watching the wind drop out of the world, flattening a full sail.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 1, 2015
Knowing that he would need the fleet to help defend the city, he decided to call back the ships, which had set off for Newport under full sail.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
