Library / English Dictionary

SAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An ocean trip taken for pleasure

Synonyms:

cruise; sail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sail" is a kind of...):

ocean trip; voyage (an act of traveling by water)

Derivation:

sail (travel on water propelled by wind or by other means)

sail (traverse or travel on (a body of water))

sail (travel on water propelled by wind)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass; sail; sheet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sail" is a kind of...):

piece of cloth; piece of material (a separate part consisting of fabric)

Meronyms (parts of "sail"):

reef (one of several strips across a sail that can be taken in or rolled up to lessen the area of the sail that is exposed to the wind)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sail"):

topsail (a sail (or either of a pair of sails) immediately above the lowermost sail of a mast and supported by a topmast)

topgallant; topgallant sail (a sail set on a yard of a topgallant mast)

square sail (a four-sided sail set beneath a horizontal yard suspended at the middle from a mast)

skysail (the sail above the royal on a square-rigger)

save-all (a sail set to catch wind spilled from a larger sail)

royal (a sail set next above the topgallant on a royal mast)

press of canvas; press of sail (the greatest amount of sail that a ship can carry safely)

main-topsail (a topsail set on the mainmast)

mainsail (the lowermost sail on the mainmast)

headsail (any sail set forward of the foremast of a vessel)

foresail (the lowest sail on the foremast of a square-rigged vessel)

fore-and-aft sail (any sail not set on a yard and whose normal position is in a fore-and-aft direction)

crossjack; mizzen course (the lowermost sail on a mizzenmast)

balloon sail (any light loose sail)

Holonyms ("sail" is a part of...):

sailing ship; sailing vessel (a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts)

Derivation:

sail (traverse or travel on (a body of water))

sail (travel on water propelled by wind)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any structure that resembles a sail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sail" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel on water propelled by wind or by other means

Example:

The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow

Synonyms:

navigate; sail; voyage

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sail" is one way to...):

journey; travel (undertake a journey or trip)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sail"):

astrogate (navigate in space)

cruise (sail or travel about for pleasure, relaxation, or sightseeing)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

sail (an ocean trip taken for pleasure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Traverse or travel on (a body of water)

Example:

He sailed the Pacific all alone

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sail" is one way to...):

journey; travel (travel upon or across)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence examples:

They sail the river

They sail down the river

Derivation:

sail (an ocean trip taken for pleasure)

sail (a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel)

sailor (a serviceman in the navy)

sailor (any member of a ship's crew)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions

Example:

The searchlights swept across the sky

Synonyms:

sail; sweep

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sail" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Verb group:

brush; sweep (sweep across or over)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sail"):

swan (sweep majestically)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Also:

sail through (succeed at easily)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Travel on water propelled by wind

Example:

the ship sails on

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sail" is one way to...):

boat (ride in a boat on water)

Domain category:

navigation; pilotage; piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sail"):

run (sail before the wind)

luff; point (sail close to the wind)

weather (sail to the windward of)

beat (sail with much tacking or with difficulty)

rack; scud (run before a gale)

outpoint (sail closer to the wind than)

tack; wear round (turn into the wind)

wear ship (turn away from the wind)

change course; gybe; jib; jibe (shift from one side of the ship to the other)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

sail (an ocean trip taken for pleasure)

sail (a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel)

sailing (riding in a sailboat)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Split my sides, I've a sick heart to sail with the likes of you!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I don't know how long it will last, but I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It's funny we should both sail under sealed orders from a man we don't know.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has experienced a new "tsunami wave" from the sun as it sails through interstellar space.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

He could see it quite distinctly when he rubbed the mists out of his eyes, and he could see the white sail of a small boat cutting the water of the shining sea.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Nearly a hundred souls were in her, all told, when we set sail from Falmouth.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I think that those seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the writer.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If they find nothing to alert you about, you sail through them quite easily.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The crows sailing overhead perhaps watched me while I took this survey.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It would be the greatest pleasure to him to have her there to the last moment before he sailed, and perhaps find her there still when he came in from his first cruise.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)