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

Virgin Voyages The adults-only cruise line decks its ships out for Halloween and features special activities on select October sailings. —Nathan Diller, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025

Those sailing aboard The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s 226-suite Luminara yacht can count Singapore as a spectacular port of call. —AFAR Media, 3 Sep. 2025

The capsules themselves were produced by a company that makes shipping containers, while Noburu Abe, who worked on the interior, modeled it on a sailing cabin. —Anthony Paletta, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2025

Fast forward to today and First now has more than 23K followers on Instagram and illustrates at events like the Met Gala and aboard the Ritz-Carlton Yacht sailing in the Mediterranean. —Sophie Liza Cannon, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 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