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
There is a mightiness to her party entrances, sweeping into a room like a galleon in full sail, which would do as well for Wolf Hall as Buck House.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 20, 2019
With its curved windows and white-tiled crested roof, the Elbphilharmonie dynamically contrasts with its sturdy, utilitarian brick foundation — a former cocoa warehouse — evoking a ship in full sail.
From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 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.
