▪ I. sailing, vbl. n.1
(ˈseɪlɪŋ)
[f. sail v.1 + -ing.]
1. a. The action of travelling on water in a ship or other vessel which is propelled by means of sails; the action or method of directing the course of such a vessel. In modern use also in wider application: the action of travelling in or of directing the course of a ship or vessel of any kind.
For circular, globular, oblique, parallel sailing, see those words. great circle sailing, see circle n. 2 b. See also plain sailing, plane sailing.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. i. (Cambr. Univ. MS.), Swa reðe stormas coman þæt we [ne] mid seᵹlinge ne mid rownesse [L. neque velo neque remigio] owiht fremian mihte. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 70 He had redy sailyng. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 175 Þe Romayns..hadde no siker sillynge wiþ oute oþer socour. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3678 Hor sister to sese, with sailyng þai wend. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 65/1 Ceylynge, velificacio. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 14 §1 Making them expert and connyng in the arte and science of shippmen and sayling. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. iv. 58 There's no more sayling by the starre. 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 37 After three dayes sayling..we arriued at..Venice. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Fam. Ep. Wks. (1711) 146 Of all pastimes and exercises I like sailing worst. 1671 W. Perwich Despatches (1903) 136 This may not turne to their account, for want of ships and cheap sailing. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Mercator's Sailing, is the Art of finding on a Plane the Motion of a Ship upon any assign'd Course. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. ix. 391 Provision for their subsistence, during their sailing down the river. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v., Sailing also implies a particular mode of navigation,..regulated by the laws of trigonometry. 1834 Nat. Philos., Navig. ii. iv. 21 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) This method is called middle latitude sailing. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 13 Aug. 5/2 The four cutters made a splendid start over a course of forty-six miles, which will provide a test on all points of sailing. |
b. In particularized use: A voyage.
| 1535 Coverdale Acts xxvii. 10, I se that this saylinge wyl be with hurte and moch dammage. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 413 The Frost again approaching, will not suffer any Sailings. |
2. a. Progression, speed or style of progression, of a ship or other vessel (originally, of a sailing-vessel).
| a 1687 Petty Treat. Nav. Philos. 127 How Top-sails [etc.]..may be fitted to promote or hinder the Sailing upon occasion. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 115 Ships, more especially such as are sharp and built for Sailing. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 377/2 These are very important circumstances, and would contribute much to improve the sailing of such vessels. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 135 A vessel..remarkable for her fast sailing. |
b. fig. Progress, success in some activity. Usu. with qualifying
adj., as
fair sailing,
smooth sailing, etc. See also
plain sailing.
| 1827, etc. [see plain sailing n.]. 1841 Lytton Night & Morning ii. viii. 118 ‘Oh! then it's all smooth sailing,’ replied the other. 1927 H. Crane Let. 19 Dec. (1965) 313 After a good deal of fair ‘sailing’ since arriving here—I am now convinced that ‘flying’ is even better. Right now however..I am ‘all fives’ on the ground. 1959 Daily Tel. 15 Oct. 12/2 Brilliant sailing in the comparatively calm waters of the Post Office. |
3. Departure (of a ship) from port.
| 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xi. 253 The time fixed by the Viceroy for her sailing. 1785 T. Hutchinson, jun. in T. H.'s Diary 9 June II. 418 Hearing there is a vessel upon sailing for America [etc.]. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 601 A fleet of transports was awaiting the signal for sailing. 1887 Daily News 14 Dec. 2/6 London sailings... Dec. 13. Tenedos. s, Dunkirk; Cormorant, s, Boulogne [etc.]. |
4. Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as in
sailing club,
sailing date,
sailing day,
sailing instructions,
sailing match. Also
† sailing cloth = sailing ware;
sailing-ice (see
quot. 1820);
sailing-line, (
a) the line on a vessel's hull which marks the level of the water when she is ballasted and rigged for sailing, but not laden or armed; (
b) a line (
line n.2 22) of sailing vessels;
sailing master, an officer charged with the navigation of a vessel (in British use chiefly with reference to yachts; formerly in the
U.S. navy, a commissioned officer, usually a lieutenant, appointed to direct the navigation of a ship of war);
sailing orders, the directions given to the captain of a vessel with regard to time of departure, destination, etc.; also
fig.;
sailing rule, a rule of the sea, to prevent the collision of ships, etc.;
sailing thwart, the thwart at or through which the mast of a sailing-boat is stepped;
sailing ton, the ‘ton’ used in measuring the capacity of sailing vessels;
† sailing ware, ? cloth suitable for wear at sea.
| 1593 in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 7/1 *Sailing cloths [made in Somerset]. |
| 1810 E. Weeton Let. 5 Sept. in Jrnl. of Governess (1969) I. 293 A *sailing club consisting of four or five young men of fortune, have conducted the annual Regattas. 1973 G. Moffat Lady with Cool Eye vii. 73 The inspector, meeting the traffic superintendent in the local sailing club, chanced to mention Mrs. Wolkoff's latest protest. |
| 1906 J. London Let. 1 Dec. (1966) 227 All..that you wanted answered..was my *sailing-date. |
| 1839 in M. Johnson Amer. Advertising, 1800–1900 (1960), The *sailing days of the above ship have been altered. 1879 Yachtman's Holidays 20 Next morning promised a poor sailing day. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 179 When the sailing day comes..Jack must get on board. |
| 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 229 Open ice, or *sailing-ice, is where the pieces are so separate as to admit of a ship sailing conveniently among them. |
| 1748 Anson's Voy. i. ii. 15 He delivered them their fighting and *sailing instructions. |
| a 1687 Petty Treat. Naval Philos. 125 Our second Water-line..I call the *sailing-line, as the first was called the launching-line. 1905 Chamber's Jrnl. May 366/1 Sailing-lines to the West Indies..give Bermuda a wide berth. |
| 1779 in New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1863) VII. 194 Appointed—Curtis *Sailing Master of the armed ship Hampden. 1836 Marryat Three Cutt. i, He..is..on board as sailing-master of the yacht. 1871 W. Collins Miss or Mrs.? ii, On one side there were the sleeping-berths of the sailing master and his mate. |
| 1810 E. Weeton Let. 15 Aug. in Jrnl. of Governess (1969) I. 284 You must not suppose that Mr. and Mrs. P. or myself were in the boat during the *sailing match. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 130 Ernest caught the sound of some reference to a sailing match. |
| 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 545 This day another express was sent to the Downes with *sailing orders. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxvii, About this time, Captain Oakum, having received sailing orders, came on board. 1796 W. Scott Let. 26 Sept. (1932) I. 56 Your sailing orders are—If the subject is casually introduced to treat it lightly. 1886 Illustr. Lond. News 6 Feb. 142/1 You [sc. a governess] told me what were your sailing orders from Mrs. Meeburn. |
| 1877 Regulations for Government of Navy of U.S. 185 Steering and *sailing rules, ..Art. 15. If two ships, one of which is a sailing-ship, and the other a steamship, are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, the steamship shall keep out of the way of the sailing-ship. 1976 Oxf. Compan. Ships & Sea 954/1 The actual sailing rules embody in general the Rule of the Road as it affects sailing vessels. |
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 7 The man on the lee side of the *sailing thwart gathers the sail forward. |
| 1898 Daily News 1 Feb. 5/2 Calculating a steam ton as equal to three *sailing tons, the tonnage has increased [etc.]. |
| 1483–4 Act 1 Rich. III, c. 8 (end), La feisure dascun drap lanuez appellez *Sailyngware. |
b. In compounds designating vessels propelled by sails, as
sailing-barge,
sailing-boat,
sailing dinghy,
sailing-packet,
sailing-ship,
sailing-trawler,
sailing-vessel,
sailing-yacht; also
sailing-car,
sailing-carriage,
sailing-chariot,
sailing-waggon.
These combinations admit of being regarded as collocations of
sailing ppl. a.
1 Cf. however
rowing-boat.
| 1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day xviii. (ed. 3) 176 The Thames sailing-barge match is also an event to be noticed. |
| 1721 New-England Courant 14 Aug. 2/2 On the 4th Inst. at Night were drowned going to Thomsons Island in a small sailing-Boat, Mr. Heskew, [etc.]. 1797 Sailing-boat [see sailing-chariot below]. 1976 Oxf. Compan. Ships & Sea 960/2 A sailing boat with masts stepped as above but sloop-rigged on the foremast would be termed a yawl. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl., Sailing Car, a car..rigged with sail..used on the railroads on the plains, by telegraph repair parties... Sailing chariots were tried in Holland..more than two hundred years since. |
| 1759 Johnson Rasselas I. vi. 35 He..found the master busy in building a sailing chariot. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 758/2 Another contrivance for being carried without draught, is by means of a sailing chariot or boat fixed on four wheels. 1884 Sailing-chariot [see sailing-car above]. |
| 1930 A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies vi. 55 Sailing-dinghies, eights and single-scullers. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 1123/1 To take part, all a man needs is a yacht,..or a sailing dinghy as small as 12 ft. (3.65 m.) long. |
| 1842 Dickens Let. 17 Feb. (1974) III. 66 There is a sailing-packet from here to England tomorrow. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 302 [They] would be forced to cross the channel in a sailing-packet. |
| 1871 D. G. Rossetti Let. July (1967) III. 959 They are coming back..by sailing-ship. 1884 Pall Mall G. 16 Oct. 2/1 There are still no fewer than 15,000 sailing ships registered in Great Britain. |
| 1891 Labour Commission Gloss. s.v. Steam, A steam trawler is a fishing vessel..propelled by means of steam power, in contra-distinction to a sailing trawler which is propelled by sails only. |
| 1748 B. Franklin Exper. & Observations Electricity (1751) i. 38 In the wake of every sailing vessel. 1976 Sailing vessel [see sailing rule, sense 4 a above]. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 362, I shall not here mention anything of the Sailing-Waggons, and several other Contrivances of that kind. |
▪ II. † sailing, vbl. n.2 see under
sail v.
2▪ III. sailing, vbl. n.3 Arch. (
ˈseɪlɪŋ)
[f. sail v.3 + -ing1.] The condition or fact of projecting from a surface; projection.
| 1563 Shute Archit. B iv b, The proiecture, or saylling out or hanging ouer of the foote of the pillor. 1664 Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. ii. i. 92 The Modul upon which afterward I regulate all the Members as well for their height as sailings over and projectures of their Profiles. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Projecture, These the Greeks call Ecphoræ,..the French Sailles, our Workmen frequently Sailings over. 1842 in Gwilt Archit. Gloss. |
▪ IV. sailing, ppl. a.1 (
ˈseɪlɪŋ)
[f. sail v.1 + -ing2.] 1. That travels on water by means of sails. (
Cf. sailing vbl. n. 4 b.)
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 8 The sayling Pine; the Cedar proud and tall. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 43. 2/1 To Persons in a Sailing Ship the Shoar seems to be in motion. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 415 A swift sailing vessel was instantly despatched to warn Rooke of his danger. |
b. In names of animals.
| 1781 Pennant Hist. Quadrupeds II. 417 Sailing Squirrel. 1803 Shaw Zool. IV. ii. 224 Sailing Coryphene. |
2. Spreading out like a full sail.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 865 Ryche robes..Þat sete on hym semly, wyth saylande skyrtez. 1617 Fletcher Valentinian ii. vi, His fame and family have growne together, And spred together like to sayling Cedars, Over the Roman Diadem. |
▪ V. sailing, ppl. a.2 Arch. (
ˈseɪlɪŋ)
[f. sail v.3 + -ing2. Cf. F. saillant.] Projecting.
sailing course: a projecting course in (usually) the upper part of a light-house or other tower-like building.
| 1493–4 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 197 Item, payd to parys for a saylyng pece for sentt stevyn ys Autyr, iiij d. 1531 Ibid. 37 A Rownde cobbord with a saylyng hause [? read hanse]. 1807 T. D. W. Dearn Bricklayer's Guide 50 Then proceed to take the sailing course, and the wall on either side the chimney. 1857 Skyring's Builders' Prices (ed. 47) 73 Sailing courses are generally measured in with the work, in which case take the length by the width, three or six inches, as it may appear quarter brick sailing. 1946 Holgate & McDougall Bricklaying v. 63 An attractive method of making an all-brick coping more effective is by first laying on top of the wall a course of three-quarter bats as headers and after completing the coping, filleting this ‘sailing’ course with cement mortar. |