sailing

noun

sail·​ing ˈsā-liŋ 

1

a

: the technical skill of managing a ship : navigation

b

: the method of determining the course to be followed to reach a given point

2

a

: the sport of handling or riding in a sailboat

b

: a departure from a port

Examples of sailing in a Sentence

They're going sailing next week.

Recent Examples on the Web

The 8-Night Mardi Gras Overnight & Mexico sailing will visit New Orleans and stay the night during Mardi Gras, with additional stops in Progreso and Cozumel. —Nathan Diller, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025

The carbon fiber is recovered from some of the world’s fastest monohull sailing yachts manufactured by CDK Technologies and is recycled back into its original fibrous state by company called Extracthive. —Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025

Luring families to Tahiti, Paul Gauguin Cruises has sweetened the pot on three sailings this summer: Book before April 25 and your kids can both cruise and fly free. —Fran Golden, AFAR Media, 26 Mar. 2025

Two-time Olympic sailing champion Martine Grael joined for the 2024-25 season to skipper the new Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, making history and immediately climbing the leaderboard. —Harriet Taylor, CNBC, 19 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing sailing

• clear sailing
• plain sailing
• sailing ship
• smooth sailing

Rhymes for sailing

• ailing
• bailing
• baling
• failing
• flailing
• grayling
• hailing
• jailing
• mailing
• nailing
• paling
• railing