set sail

Idioms  

1. Also, make sail. Begin a voyage on water, as in Dad rented a yacht, and we're about to set sail for the Caribbean, or We'll make sail for the nearest port. These expressions, dating from the early 1500s, originally meant “put the sails in position to catch the wind,” and hence cause the vessel to move.

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Example Sentences

It had set sail from Russia's Far East for China in early November.

From BBC

The sample was collected by a deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu that set sail last month for the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific, where surrounding waters are believed to contain a rich trove of valuable minerals.

From Barron's

“All right. I’d like to wave my hankie as we set sail. A transatlantic voyage to escape German invasion. It’s all so exciting!”

From Literature

After fleeing China via Hong Kong, Ecuador and the Bahamas, he set sail in October 2021 for Florida on a flimsy inflatable boat, scheduling the online release of his evidence in case he didn’t make it to shore.

From The Wall Street Journal

There are fun house mirrors, a whimsical train, a mechanical Geppetto waving in a workshop and a cat ready to set sail atop the mast of a ship.

From Los Angeles Times