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Antonyms for sail

Grammar : Verb
Spell : seyl
Phonetic Transcription : seɪl

Definition of sail

Origin :
  • Old English segl "sail, veil, curtain," from Proto-Germanic *seglom (cf. Old Saxon, Swedish segel, Old Norse segl, Old Frisian seil, Dutch zeil, Old High German segal, German Segel), of obscure origin with no known cognates outside Germanic (Irish seol, Welsh hwyl "sail" are Germanic loan-words). In some sources (Klein, OED) referred to PIE root *sek- "to cut," as if meaning "a cut piece of cloth." To take the wind out of (someone's) sails (1888) is to deprive (someone) of the means of progress, especially by sudden and unexpected action, "as by one vessel sailing between the wind and another vessel," ["The Encyclopaedic Dictionary," 1888].
  • verb travel through water, air; glide
Example sentences :
  • He didn't go on board till the morning on which the ship was to sail.
  • Extract from : « Brave and Bold » by Horatio Alger
  • A five, a four and the main,' shouted the big man, with a voice like the flap of a sail.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • We had a ship, a brig, and twelve schooners, fourteen sail in all.
  • Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper
  • A little later the larboard fore-sheet went, and the sail was split.
  • Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper
  • We set it, double-reefed, which made it but a rag of a sail, and yet the ship felt it directly.
  • Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper
  • The St. Louis was with us most of this time, though she did not sail from America in company.
  • Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper
  • It was said to consist of twenty-four sail of the line, six frigates, and three sloops.
  • Extract from : « The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson » by Robert Southey
  • Nelson pursued them with ten sail of the line and three frigates.
  • Extract from : « The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson » by Robert Southey
  • Of thirteen sail of the line, nine were taken and two burned.
  • Extract from : « The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson » by Robert Southey
  • It was reported that the French were again out with 18 or 20 sail.
  • Extract from : « The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson » by Robert Southey

Synonyms for sail

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019