sail

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“
Taking with him Lambert and a stout crew, he embarked from his upper bedroom window, bade his wife and daughters an affectionate adieu, hoisted his sail, and pushed off The hoisting of the sail was a mere matter of form It's of no use at present, but will be ready to catch the first puff that may favour us," observed the old gentleman, as he sat down and took the tiller.

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Definitions (88)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (14)

  1. noun Nautical A piece of fabric sewn together and fitted to the spars and rigging of a vessel so as to convert the force of the wind into forward motion of the vessel.
  2. noun Nautical The sails of a ship or boat.
  3. noun Nautical The superstructure of a submarine.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (64)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

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This word has been looked up 201 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

boat ·  mast ·  fleet ·  fish ·  wing ·  crow ·  cloud ·  canvas ·  shoot ·  bow ·  sheet ·  deck

Used in the same contextWord Family

sail:   sailing ·  sails ·  sailed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English seil, from Old English segl. Sail into, from obsolete sail, to attack, from Middle English sailen, short for assailen; see assail.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English saile, sayle, seil, seyl, from Anglo-Saxon segel, segl = Old Saxon segel = Middle Dutch seyl, Dutch zeil = Middle Low German Low German segel, seil = Old High German segal, Middle High German G. segel Icelandic segl = Swedish segel = Danish sejl (Gothic (Moesogothic) not recorded), a sail. Root unknown; certainly not from Latin sagulum, a mantle.
  2. from Middle English sailen, saylen, seilen, seilien, from Anglo-Saxon seglian = Middle Dutch seylen, Dutch zeilen = Middle Low German Low German segelen = Middle High German sigelen, segelen, German segeln = Icelandic sigla = Swedish segla = Danish sejle (cf. Old French sigler, singler, French cingler = Spanish singlar = Portuguese singrar, from Middle High German), sail; from the noun.
  3. from Middle English saylen, salyen, dance, from Old French sailir, saillir, salir, French saillir, leap, issue forth, sally, dance, from Latin salire, leap: see salient, and cf. sally, which is related to sail as rally is to rail.
  4. from Middle English sailen, saylen, by apheresis from asailen, assail: see assail.
 

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/seɪl/
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