sail close to the wind
/seɪl ˈkloʊs tə‿ðə ˈwɪnd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.93 in modern English
27
Scrabble Score
18
Letters
3
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To sail in a direction close to that from which the wind is blowing, while still making headway.
Intransitive verb
verb
To behave in a manner that is on the verge of being dangerous, illegal, or improper.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "As the Syrene vvas ſeen to fall to leevvard in the afternoon, the ſignal vvas made to her to ſail as cloſe to the vvind as poſſible."
- "A vessel sails close to the wind, when her head is just so near the wind as to fill the sails without shaking them."
- "American privateers were beautifully built, and modelled so as to facilitate escape rather than come into close quarters. […] Such a vessel could sail close to the wind or tack suddenly; one pivot gun of long range was carried amidships, and there were plenty of men on board."
- "We scudded blithely over the sea. It was the long-boat we had. She was well-built and sturdy and a good sailer; though sailing close to the wind, it was not strong enough to keel her over too far, besides, to stiffen her, we were all perched to windward."
- "Because the Sirius had failed to tack, the wind had blown it backwards onto the reef: the result perhaps of an unexpected shift of the wind, a shoreward current, [Philip Gidley] King's failure to warn [John] Hunter about the current and a bold commander who sometimes sailed close to the wind."
- "But he received only indifferent remuneration, in those days, and found himself to "sail close to the wind," to meet his current expenses."
Etymology
Sense 2 (“to behave in a manner on the verge of being dangerous, illegal, or improper”) derives from the fact that to sail an old-fashioned sailing ship close to the direction the wind was blowing from was risky because a small change in the wind direction could fill the sails and push them against the mast, potentially breaking it.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /seɪl ˈkloʊs tə‿ðə ˈwɪnd/
- British English: /seɪl ˈkləʊs tə‿ðə ˈwɪnd/