sailer
(ˈseɪlə(r))
Also 6 salar, saler, sayler.
[f. sail v.1 + -er1. Cf. G. segler sailor, sailer, Du. zeiler, Sw. seglare, Da. seiler.
See sailor, a variant spelling of this word, now restricted to a specific application and regarded as a distinct word.]
1. a. One who sails. Now rare.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 4359 We ere na sailers on þe see to sell ne to byi. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4589 All softe was the see to sailers þerin. 1513 Douglas æneis i. iii. 43 On the huge deip quhen [= wheen, few] salaris did appear [Virg. adparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto]. |
† b. = sailor 1. Obs.
| 15.. Sir A. Barton in Surtees Misc. (1888) 64 The best salers in Christentie! 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. i. 31 b, Cape S. Ange, very dangerous for saylers. 1605 Camden Rem. 1 Furnished with shipping and Saylers. |
† c. The Nautilus; = sailor 3 a. Obs.
| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 178 Nautilus..the Nautilus, or Sailer. 1713 Petiver Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ Tab. x, Nautilus tenuis & legitimus... Great brittle Sayler. |
2. a. A ship or vessel with reference to her powers of sailing.
| 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. xlix. 106 For that theyr ships were great saylers. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia v. 185 A small Barke, but an excellent sailer. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 69 A very strong tight ship, and a pretty good sailer. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 338 The fastest sailers lead the way. 1891 J. Winsor Columbus xix. 438 His excuse was that his principal caravel was a poor sailer. |
b. A sailing vessel.
| 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 11 That first sailer of all [i.e. Argo] burst ever on Amphitrite. 1883 Chamb. Jrnl. 35 A Steamer costs much more than a Sailer. 1908 19th Cent. Aug. 235 Wooden sailers were superseded by iron creatures of the engineer. |
3. Baseball. (See quot. 1961.)
| 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 28 May 14/7 There were two strikes and three balls on Cochrane when Hadley threw his ill-fated ‘sailer’. 1961 J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 379 Sailer (baseball), a pitched fast ball that takes off, that is, sails. 1975 New Yorker 17 Nov. 158/2 The throw, however, was a horrible sailer that glanced off Burleson's glove and went on into center field. |