SAILING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sailing mean? 

• SAILING (noun)
  The noun SAILING has 4 senses:

1. the work of a sailor

2. riding in a sailboat

3. the departure of a vessel from a port

4. the activity of flying a glider

  Familiarity information: SAILING used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAILING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The work of a sailor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

navigation; sailing; seafaring

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

employment; work (the occupation for which you are paid)

Meronyms (parts of "sailing"):

steerage; steering (the act of steering a ship)

Domain member category:

close to the wind (nearly opposite to the direction from which wind is coming)

spun yarn ((nautical) small stuff consisting of a lightweight rope made of several rope yarns loosely wound together)

stay ((nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar)

sternpost ((nautical) the principal upright timber at the stern of a vessel)

fireroom; stokehold; stokehole ((nautical) chamber or compartment in which the furnaces of a ship are stoked or fired)

towing line; towing rope; towline; towrope ((nautical) a rope used in towing)

capsizing ((nautical) the event of a boat accidentally turning over in the water)

beam-ends ((nautical) at the ends of the transverse deck beams of a vessel)

bell; ship's bell ((nautical) each of the eight half-hour units of nautical time signaled by strokes of a ship's bell; eight bells signals 4:00, 8:00, or 12:00 o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.)

steerageway ((nautical) the minimum rate of motion needed for a vessel to be maneuvered)

stand out (steer away from shore, of ships)

starboard (turn to the right, of helms or rudders)

close-hauled (having the sails trimmed for sailing as close to the wind as possible)

fore (situated at or toward the bow of a vessel)

atrip; aweigh ((of an anchor) just clear of the bottom)

rigged (fitted or equipped with necessary rigging (sails and shrouds and stays etc))

unrigged (stripped of rigging)

fore-and-aft (parallel with the keel of a boat or ship)

escutcheon ((nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed)

leg ((nautical) the distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack)

tack; tacking ((nautical) the act of changing tack)

accommodation ladder ((nautical) a portable ladder hung over the side of a vessel to give access to small boats alongside)

becket ((nautical) a short line with an eye at one end and a knot at the other; used to secure loose items on a ship)

bilge well ((nautical) a well where seepage drains to be pumped away)

bitter end ((nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt)

chip (a triangular wooden float attached to the end of a log line)

deadeye ((nautical) a round hardwood disk with holes and a grooved perimeter used to tighten a shroud)

mainsheet; sheet; shroud; tack; weather sheet ((nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind)

jack ladder; Jacob's ladder; pilot ladder ((nautical) a hanging ladder of ropes or chains supporting wooden or metal rungs or steps)

laniard; lanyard ((nautical) a line used for extending or fastening rigging on ships)

lead line; sounding line ((nautical) plumb line for determining depth)

luff ((nautical) the forward edge of a fore-and-aft sail that is next to the mast)

overhead ((nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship)

ratlin; ratline ((nautical) a small horizontal rope between the shrouds of a sailing ship; they form a ladder for climbing aloft)

rudder ((nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel)

sea ladder; sea steps ((nautical) ladder to be lowered over a ship's side for coming aboard)

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

cabotage (navigation in coastal waters)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Riding in a sailboat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

seafaring; water travel (travel by water)

Domain member category:

spill (reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail))

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

luff (the act of sailing close to the wind)

beat (the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing)

tack (sailing a zigzag course)

Derivation:

sail (travel on water propelled by wind)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The departure of a vessel from a port

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

departure; going; going away; leaving (the act of departing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The activity of flying a glider

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

glide; gliding; sailing; sailplaning; soaring

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

flight; flying (an instance of traveling by air)

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

hang gliding (gliding in a hang glider)

paragliding; parasailing (gliding in a parasail)

 Context examples 

She had never done anything like it in her life, and yet she had been moonlight-sailing with young men before.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

All the men who carried him had known him, and gone sailing with him, and seen him merry and bold.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The first officer, Mr. Jack Crocker, had been made a captain and was to take charge of their new ship, the Bass Rock, sailing in two days’ time from Southampton.

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

He was in sailing ship, since Madam Mina tell of sails being set.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

We were sailing on through the fog without a look-out and without lights.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It was conspicuous far to sea both on the east and west and might have been entered as a sailing mark upon the chart.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And here you are, Mary, and you also, Roddy, and good luck to the carronade which has sent me into so snug a harbour without fear of sailing orders.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It's no fun to go sailing round.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

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)

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

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)