sailing
n. uncountablen. the sport or activity of moving across water in a boat with sails. You use the wind to push the boat forward.
n. the activity or sport of controlling a vessel propelled by the action of wind on sails. Often used to refer to the skill of navigation or the act of traveling by water.
We go sailing every weekend during the summer.
The strong winds made for perfect sailing conditions on the lake this afternoon.
While modern engines provide reliability, many enthusiasts prefer the technical challenge of sailing, which requires a deep understanding of wind patterns and maritime currents.
From Middle English saylinge, seilinge, variants of sailende, seilende; equivalent to sail + -ing. Cognate with Dutch zeilend (“sailing”).
From Middle English seyling, sayling, from Old English seġling, seġlung (“sailing”), from Proto-West Germanic siglingu, seglungu, from Proto-Germanic *siglingō (“sailing”); equivalent to sail + -ing. Cognate with Middle Low German sēgelinge (“sailing”), Swedish segling (“sailing”), Icelandic sigling (“sailing”).