sailing

[sey-ling]

noun

1. the activity of a person or thing that sails.

2. the departure of a ship from port.

   The cruise line offers sailings every other day.

3. 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.

sailing

/ ˈseɪlɪŋ /

noun

1. the practice, art, or technique of sailing a vessel

2. a method of navigating a vessel

   rhumb-line sailing

3. an instance of a vessel's leaving a port

   scheduled for a midnight sailing

Other Word Forms

• well-sailing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sailing¹

before 900; Middle English seiling, Old English seglung. See sail, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Such a scene might not seem unusual for a Friday night on a cruise ship, but this wasn’t a typical sailing.

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The long trans-Atlantic sailing was especially attractive because we had six consecutive sea days on the way to New York after our stops in Spain and Gibraltar.

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As the BBC has learned, a growing network of "shadow" ships are sailing without a valid national flag, which can render vessels stateless and without proper insurance.

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“In a great hibernation. There are rumors as to why, but no one quite knows. We’re on her Oceans now, sailing across her body.”

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“Imagine! A little three-masted schooner made of gold, sailing across the sky!”

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Related Words

• escape 
• evacuation 
• exit 
• exodus 
• flight 
• passage 
• removal 
• retirement 
• retreat 
• separation 
• takeoff 
• walkout 
• withdrawal