Synonyms

set sail

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

set sail

Soon she set sail from Catania to Latin America in search of a better future.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The Lincoln, normally based in San Diego, set sail in November for a routine deployment to the Pacific.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

A century ago this month, the Royal Research Ship William Scoresby set sail from Humber Dock, in Hull, on a voyage to the southern oceans.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

It set sail from the German island of Rügen, headed for the middle of the Baltic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

He hastened back to the ship and bade his crew set sail.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023