sail

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♦ sail /s'eɪl/ (sails sailing sailed)
1 [N-COUNT]
Sails are large pieces of material attached to the mast of a ship. The wind blows against the sails and pushes the ship along.
The white sails billow with the breezes they catch.
2 [VERB] V prep/adv
You say a ship sails when it moves over the sea.
The trawler had sailed from the port of Zeebrugge...
3 [VERB] V n prep, V adv/prep
If you sail a boat or if a boat sails, it moves across water using its sails.
I shall get myself a little boat and sail her around the world...
For nearly two hundred miles she sailed on, her sails hard with ice...
4 [VERB] V prep/adv
If a person or thing sails somewhere, they move there smoothly and fairly quickly.
We got into the lift and sailed to the top floor...
5
see also sailing
6 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR prep
When a ship sets sail, it leaves a port.
Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World in the Santa Maria.
7
to sail close to the wind: see windsail through
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n
If someone or something sails through a difficult situation or experience, they deal with it easily and successfully.
While she sailed through her maths exams, he struggled...

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