plane sailing
/ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.92 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A technique for navigation using the assumption that the journey occurs over a plane or flat surface rather than the actual curved surface of the Earth, which is sufficiently accurate over short distances.
Uncountable
noun
Alternative spelling of plain sailing (“navigation of waters free from hazards or unfavourable winds; (figurative) something that is easy, simple, or straightforward”).
Archaic; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "[…] I hired a Tonquineſe for about a Dollar to be my guide. This, tho but a ſmall matter, vvas a great deal out of my Pocket, vvho had not above 2 Dollars in all, vvhich I had gotten on board, by teaching ſome of our young Seamen Plain Sailing."
- "[…] Me[r]cators Sailing gives the correct Difference of Latitude and Longitude both; Middle Latitude Sailing, only the correct Difference of Longitude; Plain Sailing gives neither correctly; and therefore their Merits are in Proportion."
- "I doubt as hovv I've ſteered by a vvrong chart, d'ye ſee—as for the matter of the ſciences, to be ſure, I knovv plain ſailing and mercator; and am an indifferent good ſeaman, […]"
- "[W]e have determined to go by way of Lisbon, […] and so on our old route to Malta and Constantinople, if so be that Captain Kidd, our gallant commander, understands plain sailing and Mercator and takes us on our voyage all according to the chart."
- "After this [the whale's tongue] was hoisted in, the rest of the way was plane sailing, the blubber of the body being cut and peeled off, in huge unbroken strips, as the carcass rolled over and over, being heaved on by the windlass, then hooked into by the blubber hooks, and hoisted in by the men all the time heaving at the windlass."
Etymology
From plane (adjective) + sailing (noun), a variant of plain sailing probably by analogy with plane chart (“(nautical) chart representing the earth in which lines of latitude and longitude are respectively shown as parallel straight lines”) or plane scale (“(chiefly nautical, obsolete) scale or ruler with markings used for calculations, especially for navigation”).
Word Breakdown
- Root: *pleh₂-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/
- British English: /ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/