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

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

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

The MV Hondius set sail from this spectacular Patagonian port, sandwiched between snow-capped mountains and the South Atlantic, on April 1.

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship set sail in April.

From Barron's • May 11, 2026

Argentina's health ministry has said officials will test rodents in the city of Ushuaia, where the ship set sail from on 1 April.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

When he set sail from Troy many Trojans had joined him.

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