cruise

verb

\ ˈkrüz

cruised; cruising

Definition of cruise

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to sail about touching at a series of ports

2 : to move or proceed speedily, smoothly, or effortlessly I'll cruise over to her house to see if she's home

3 : to travel without destination or purpose

4a : to go about the streets at random but on the lookout for possible developments the cabdriver cruised for an hour before being hailed

b : to search (as in public places) for a sexual partner

5a of an airplane : to fly at the most efficient operating speed

b of an automobile : to travel at a speed suitable for being maintained for a long distance

transitive verb

1 : to cruise over or about

2 : to inspect (land) with reference to possible lumber yield

3a : to search in (a public place) for a sexual partner

b : to approach and suggest sexual relations to

4 : to explore or search the offerings of especially : surf cruise the Internet

cruise

noun

Definition of cruise (Entry 2 of 2)

: an act or an instance of cruising especially : a tour by ship

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about cruise

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Examples of cruise in a Sentence

Verb

We cruised for a week down the Yangtze River. He dreams of cruising the Mediterranean. The bus was cruising at 55 miles per hour. We were cruising along the highway. The plane was cruising at 30,000 feet. On Friday nights, teenagers cruise the main street in town to show off their cars. A car cruised past us.

Noun

We went on a weeklong cruise down the Yangtze River. They went on a cruise for their honeymoon.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The buzz: Mexico finished the first round with its worst game of the tournament, frustrated by a defensive Swedish team in a 3-0 loss, while Brazil’s last game was its best of the World Cup, cruising past Serbia to win the group. — Kevin Baxter, latimes.com, "A look at Monday's World Cup schedule," 1 July 2018 The station blasted hits all night at 790 AM as kids cruised past its Fourth Street studio on their way to Kingfish and back again. — Jeffrey Lee Puckett, The Courier-Journal, "60 years ago, WAKY put the crazy in Louisville's rock 'n' roll radio," 7 June 2018 Benfica, meanwhile, had cruised past Juventus in the other semi and the two would meet at Wembley. — SI.com, "On This Day in 1968 Man Utd Made History by Becoming the First English Club to Win the European Cup," 29 May 2018 Albany hasn’t lost a game since, cruising past Vermont for the America East title and taking down Denver in the quarterfinals. — Marisa Ingemi, courant.com, "Yale Set To Take On Albany In Lacrosse Final Four," 25 May 2018 Wessel scored five goals as the Huskies cruised past Lincoln-Way East 13-1 in the state quarterfinals at Stevenson. — Paul Johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Hardware in store: Taylor Wessel scores five goals as Naperville North clinches state trophy with quarterfinal rout," 19 May 2018 Eagles roll, too Aberdeen (7-6) cruised past visiting Kenwood, 16-4. — Randy Mcroberts, The Aegis, "Three play and win as girls lacrosse playoffs begin," 10 May 2018 Garrett Poston pitched a five-hitter and struck out seven as Clear Creek cruised past Dickinson, 5-0, Friday night. — Houston Chronicle, "24-6A baseball: Clear Brook rallies to surprise Springs," 14 Apr. 2018 But after cruising past the closed booth where entrance fees are usually collected, the Lees were soon trudging through the snow on a boardwalk leading to one of the park's famous thermal features. — Marie Simoneaux, NOLA.com, "New Orleans, Baton Rouge among the 'Best Small Cities', says National Geographic," 21 Jan. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The use of nuclear power means a submarine can stay submerged for its entire cruise, making these vessels extremely difficult to detect and destroy. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Does America Still Need the Nuclear Triad?," 23 Jan. 2019 Most adaptive cruise-control systems rely on radar to detect the vehicle ahead of a car, and radar isn't good at distinguishing stationary objects in the road from objects near the road. — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "The hype around driverless cars came crashing down in 2018," 30 Dec. 2018 Take a cinematic cruise down the long flat farm roads, cooing at highland cattle and relaxed quarter horses or stop to collect a local farmer’s bounty in exchange for a few dollars in the honor system jar. — Kaitlyn Wylde, Vogue, "What’s So Great About Great Barrington? A Weekend Guide to the Quietly Cool Berkshire Town," 25 Oct. 2018 The couple had skipped giving one another Christmas gifts in 2016, instead opting to take a cruise to celebrate their birthdays. — Tonya Alanez, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Deputies were at a party when Fort Lauderdale airport shooting began, says widow's lawsuit," 12 July 2018 Roughly 13 million Americans are expected to take a cruise this year, and if a ship is taken by terrorists, the team responds. — Carter Evans, CBS News, "Elite Coast Guard team training for potential chemical weapons attacks," 14 June 2018 Deer Park was without the services of third baseman Colt Turner, who is on his first-ever cruise with members of his family. — Robert Avery, Houston Chronicle, "Scrimmage tells Mustang all-stars the real deal is nearing," 6 June 2018 In the middle of it all, the consummate showman, who in his 20s worked as a singer on cruise ships, pledged free pets for poor seniors with biweekly veterinary care and pet food included. — Eric Sylvers, WSJ, "Italy’s Berlusconi Is Back for One More Try," 17 Jan. 2019 January 2019 marks the first transatlantic print issue of Condé Nast Traveler—and what better issue to launch with than an exhaustive list of our New York and London editors' favorite hotels, resorts, and cruise ships? — Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, "What It Takes to Make Our Gold List: Travelogue Podcast," 21 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cruise.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.