sail

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /seɪl/ or [seɪ̯ɫ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: sale

Noun

Singular sail

Plural sails

A sailing ship with many sails

1. (countable) A sail is a large piece of fabric (cloth) to catch wind, used on a boat or a ship.

   They folded the sail.

Verb

Plain form sail

Third-person singular sails

Past tense sailed

Past participle sailed

Present participle sailing

1. (intransitive) If you sail, you move by catching the wind, usually by ship on water.

   They sail around the world every year in their boat.

2. (transitive & intransitive) If you sail, you travel on a boat or ship.

   We sailed across the Atlantic to reach Spain.

   We sailed the ship to the east of the island.

Related words

• sailboat
• sailfish
• sailor