sailing Meaning & Definition
What Does Sailing Mean?
Sailing is used as a verb meaning present participle and gerund of sail. As an adjective, it means Travelling by ship. As a noun, it means Motion across a body of water in a craft powered by the wind, as a sport or otherwise.
Quick Facts About Sailing
| Part of speech | verb, adjective, noun |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈseɪ.lɪŋ/ |
| Syllables | 2 |
| Synonyms | glide, gliding and soaring |
| Plural | sailings |
Sailing Definition (Verb)
- present participle and gerund of sail
Sailing as an Adjective
- Travelling by ship.
Sailing as a Noun
- Motion across a body of water in a craft powered by the wind, as a sport or otherwise.
- Navigation; the skill needed to operate and navigate a vessel.
- The time of departure from a port.
- A scheduled voyage by a ferry or ship.
Verb
- To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power.
- To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl.
- To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat.
- To set sail; to begin a voyage.
We sail for Australia tomorrow.
- To move briskly and gracefully through the air.
- To move briskly.
The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.
Noun
- (countable) a scheduled voyage by a ferry or ship.
Synonyms of Sailing
Sailing synonyms and antonyms →Sailing in a Sentence
We sail for Australia tomorrow.
The duchess sailed haughtily out of the room.
Word Forms & Grammar
sailing
sailing (not comparable)
sailing (countable and uncountable, plural sailings)
Words That Rhyme With Sailing
Origin of Sailing
Origin 1: From Middle English saylinge, seilinge, variants of sailende, seilende; equivalent to sail + -ing. Cognate with Dutch zeilend (“sailing”).
Origin 2: From Middle English seyling, sayling, from Old English seġling, seġlung (“sailing”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglingu, *seglungu, from Proto-Germanic *siglingō (“sailing”); equivalent to sail + -ing. Cognate with Middle Low German sēgelinge (“sailing”), Swedish segling (“sailing”), Icelandic sigling (“sailing”).
Sailing Pronunciation
You say sailing as /ˈseɪ.lɪŋ/. It has 2 syllables, with the main stress on the first syllable (seɪ).
Sailing: Your Questions Answered
Is sailing a verb or an adjective?
Sailing is mainly used as a verb, but it can also be used as an adjective and a noun.
What is another word for sailing?
Close synonyms of sailing are glide, gliding and soaring. See the full list of sailing synonyms and antonyms.
What is the plural of sailing?
The plural of sailing is sailings.