- 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.
Sailing west across the Pacific for three months, the ships brought silver coins from Spain's American colonies to Manila, where they would be exchanged for luxury goods like silk, porcelain and jade from China.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
Sailing from the port will finally resume later on Monday with the 41-year-old ferry MV Isle of Arran drafted to provide temporary cover during July while Caledonian Isles remains out of action.
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2025
“Fantasmic!” makes use not just of the Rivers of America and its centerpiece island but also such large-scale attractions as the Mark Twain Riverboat and the Sailing Ship Columbia.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2024
Sailing across the Atlantic to France in October 1776, Benjamin Franklin had 38 days to contemplate his near-impossible mission: persuading the absolute French monarchy of Louis XVI to bankroll a nascent American republic.
From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2024
Sailing past three of the tallest peaks, and just over the outstretched arms of the grasping demons, they reached the ground and landed with a sudden jolt.
From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster
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.
