1. Home
2. Idioms
3. set sail

set sail

---

---

set sail

to begin a trip on a ship or boat Later he left California and set sail for Australia, searching for gold.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of set sail (put up the sails of a boat to use the wind to move forward)

See also: sail, set

set sail

Also, make sail. Begin a voyage on water, as in Dad rented a yacht, and we're about to set sail for the Caribbean, or We'll make sail for the nearest port. These expressions, dating from the early 1500s, originally meant "put the sails in position to catch the wind," and hence cause the vessel to move.

See also: sail, set

set sail

Nautical

To begin a voyage on water.

See also: sail, set