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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

HMS Erebus, captained by Sir John Franklin, set sail in 1845.

From BBC • May 26, 2026

The Mentor had set sail from New Bedford, Mass., the whaling capital of the United States, in July 1831, with a complement of 21 men led by Capt. Edward Barnard.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

The MV Hondius cruise ship, where a hantavirus outbreak on board killed three people and triggered a global health scare, set sail from the city at Argentina's southernmost tip on April 1.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

Three infected people died on the cruise ship that set sail from Ushuaia in the southern Argentine Tierra del Fuego province on April 1.

From Barron's • May 15, 2026

And many fine poems have been written about shipwrecks, but only a foolish captain would knowingly set sail into stormy seas.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

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