an area of canvas or other fabric extended to the wind in such a way as to transmit the force of the wind to an assemblage of spars and rigging mounted firmly on a hull, raft, iceboat, etc., so as to drive it along.
some similar piece or apparatus, as the part of an arm that catches the wind on a windmill.
a voyage or excursion, especially in a sailing vessel: They went for a sail around the island.
a sailing vessel or ship.
sailing vessels collectively: The fleet numbered 30 sail.
sails for a vessel or vessels collectively.
(initial capital letter)Astronomy. the constellation Vela.
verb (used without object)
to move along or travel over water: steamships sailing to Lisbon.
British Dictionary definitions for trim one's sails
sail
noun
an area of fabric, usually Terylene or nylon (formerly canvas), with fittings for holding it in any suitable position to catch the wind, used for propelling certain kinds of vessels, esp over water
a voyage on such a vessela sail down the river
a vessel with sails or such vessels collectivelyto travel by sail; we raised seven sail in the northeast
a ship's sails collectively
something resembling a sail in shape, position, or function, such as the part of a windmill that is turned by the wind or the part of a Portuguese man-of-war that projects above the water
the conning tower of a submarine
in sailhaving the sail set
make sail
to run up the sail or to run up more sail
to begin a voyage
set sail
to embark on a voyage by ship
to hoist sail
under sail
with sail hoisted
under way
verb(mainly intr)
to travel in a boat or shipwe sailed to Le Havre
to begin a voyage; set sailwe sail at 5 o'clock
(of a vessel) to move over the waterthe liner is sailing to the Caribbean
(tr)to manoeuvre or navigate a vesselhe sailed the schooner up the channel
(tr)to sail overshe sailed the Atlantic single-handed
(often foll by over, through, etc) to move fast or effortlesslywe sailed through customs; the ball sailed over the fence
to move along smoothly; glide
(often foll by in or into) informal
to begin (something) with vigour
to make an attack (on) violently with words or physical force
Old English segl "sail, veil, curtain," from Proto-Germanic *seglom (cf. Old Saxon, Swedish segel, Old Norse segl, Old Frisian seil, Dutch zeil, Old High German segal, German Segel), of obscure origin with no known cognates outside Germanic (Irish seol, Welsh hwyl "sail" are Germanic loan-words). In some sources (Klein, OED) referred to PIE root *sek- "to cut," as if meaning "a cut piece of cloth." To take the wind out of (someone's) sails (1888) is to deprive (someone) of the means of progress, especially by sudden and unexpected action, "as by one vessel sailing between the wind and another vessel," ["The Encyclopaedic Dictionary," 1888].
sail
v.
Old English segilan "travel on water in a ship; equip with a sail," from the same Germanic source as sail (n.); cognate with Old Norse sigla, Middle Dutch seghelen, Dutch zeilen, Middle Low German segelen, German segeln. Meaning "to set out on a sea voyage, leave port" is from c.1200. Related: Sailed; sailing.
Modify one's stand, adapt to circumstances, as in His advisers told him to trim his sails before he alienated voters and bungled the election completely. This metaphoric expression alludes to adjusting a ship's sails to take full advantage of prevailing winds. [Late 1700s]
