plain sail

American  

noun

Nautical.

1. any of the ordinary working sails of a vessel.

2. all these sails, taken collectively.

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Etymology

Origin of plain sail

First recorded in 1820–30

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plain sail

Fires were ordered for 12, and at 11.30 we started steaming with plain sail set.

From Scott's Last Expedition Volume I by Robert Falcon Scott

We accordingly jogged along under plain sail until daylight, when we got the studding-sails once more upon the little hooker and tried her paces.

From A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron by Edward S. Hodgson

We weighed anchor in the afternoon of October 9, and got out of the harbour under all plain sail.

From The Cruise of the 'Alerte' The narrative of a search for treasure on the desert island of Trinidad by E. F. (Edward Frederick) Knight

An hour later the Farallone was under all plain sail, the rudder hard a-port, and the cheerfully-clanking windlass had brought the anchor home.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XIX (of 25) The Ebb-Tide; Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson

There was a light breeze from the eastward, and the frigate, under all plain sail, was standing on a bowline to the southward.

From True Blue by William Henry Giles Kingston

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