Adjacent Words

Sailing definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SA'ILING, ppr. Moving on water or in air; passing in a ship or other vessel.
SA'ILING, n.
1. The act of moving on water; or the movement of a ship or vessel impelled or wafted along the surface of water by the action of wind on her sails.
2. Movement through the air, as in a balloon.
3. The act of setting sail or beginning a voyage.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the work of a sailor [syn: seafaring, navigation, sailing]
2: riding in a sailboat
3: the departure of a vessel from a port
4: the activity of flying a glider [syn: glide, gliding, sailplaning, soaring, sailing]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: before 12th century 1. a. the technical skill of managing a ship ; navigation b. the method of determining the course to be followed to reach a given point 2. a. the sport of handling or riding in a sailboat b. a departure from a port

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sailing Sail"ing, n. 1. The act of one who, or that which, sails; the motion of a vessel on water, impelled by wind or steam; the act of starting on a voyage. 2. (Naut.) The art of managing a vessel; seamanship; navigation; as, globular sailing; oblique sailing. Note: For the several methods of sailing, see under Circular, Globular, Oblique, Parallel, etc. Sailing master (U. S. Navy), formerly, a warrant officer, ranking next below a lieutenant, whose duties were to navigate the vessel; and under the direction of the executive officer, to attend to the stowage of the hold, to the cables, rigging, etc. The grade was merged in that of master in 1862.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sail Sail, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sailing.] [AS. segelian, seglian. See Sail, n.] 1. To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by the action of steam or other power. 2. To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a water fowl. 3. To be conveyed in a vessel on water; to pass by water; as, they sailed from London to Canton. 4. To set sail; to begin a voyage. 5. To move smoothly through the air; to glide through the air without apparent exertion, as a bird. As is a winged messenger of heaven, . . . When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, And sails upon the bosom of the air. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Circular Cir"cu*lar, a. [L. circularis, fr. circulus circle: cf. F. circulaire. See Circle.] 1. In the form of, or bounded by, a circle; round. 2. repeating itself; ending in itself; reverting to the point of beginning; hence, illogical; inconclusive; as, circular reasoning. 3. Adhering to a fixed circle of legends; cyclic; hence, mean; inferior. See Cyclic poets, under Cyclic. Had Virgil been a circular poet, and closely adhered to history, how could the Romans have had Dido? --Dennis. 4. Addressed to a circle, or to a number of persons having a common interest; circulated, or intended for circulation; as, a circular letter. A proclamation of Henry III., . . . doubtless circular throughout England. --Hallam. 5. Perfect; complete. [Obs.] A man so absolute and circular In all those wished-for rarities that may take A virgin captive. --Massinger. Circular are, any portion of the circumference of a circle. Circular cubics (Math.), curves of the third order which are imagined to pass through the two circular points at infinity. Circular functions. (Math.) See under Function. Circular instruments, mathematical instruments employed for measuring angles, in which the graduation extends round the whole circumference of a circle, or 360[deg]. Circular lines, straight lines pertaining to the circle, as sines, tangents, secants, etc. Circular note or letter. (a) (Com.) See under Credit. (b) (Diplomacy) A letter addressed in identical terms to a number of persons. Circular numbers (Arith.), those whose powers terminate in the same digits as the roots themselves; as 5 and 6, whose squares are 25 and 36. --Bailey. --Barlow. Circular points at infinity (Geom.), two imaginary points at infinite distance through which every circle in the plane is, in the theory of curves, imagined to pass. Circular polarization. (Min.) See under Polarization. Circular or Globular sailing (Naut.), the method of sailing by the arc of a great circle. Circular saw. See under Saw.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sailings) 1. Sailing is the activity or sport of sailing boats. There was swimming and sailing down on the lake. 2. Sailings are trips made by a ship carrying passengers. Ferry companies are providing extra sailings from Calais... N-COUNT: usu pl, oft supp N 3. If you say that a task was not all plain sailing, you mean that it was not very easy. Pregnancy wasn't all plain sailing and once again there were problems... PHRASE: usu v-link PHR

Moby Thesaurus

aeronautics, air service, airline, astronautics, aviation, ballooning, blind flying, boating, canoeing, circumnavigation, cloud-seeding, coasting, commercial aviation, contact flying, cruising, flight, flow, flowing, flying, general aviation, glide, gliding, gunkholing, motorboating, navigability, navigating, navigation, passage-making, periplus, pilotage, rowing, sailplaning, sculling, sea travel, seafaring, skating, skiing, skim, sledding, slide, sliding, slipping, slither, slithering, soaring, steaming, sweep, sweeping, tobogganing, travel by water, voyaging, water travel, winging, yachting