press of sail
- noun
- Archaic
:
presión de vela
- The captain ordered the press of sail to be reduced as a storm approached.
Examples
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With a full press of sail, the ship raced ahead of its pursuers.
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The press of sail is crucial for maximizing speed.
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The old clipper set a daring press of sail despite the heavy winds.
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With the right press of sail, we can reach our destination faster.
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The old clipper set a daring press of sail despite the heavy winds.
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With a full press of sail, the ship raced ahead of its pursuers.
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The captain ordered the press of sail to be reduced as a storm approached.
Synonyms
The most sail a ship can carry safely without turning over or being damaged
Antonyms
How Full
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a specialized nautical sense of 'press' relating to pressure/amount combined with 'sail', so a learner who knows 'press' as 'pressure' and 'sail' might infer a relation to force or load but not the specific technical sense 'maximum amount of sail carried safely'. Because the meaning is domain-specific and not fully predictable from everyday senses of the constituents, it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Press of sail comes from the image of a ship with every sail set and the press put on them to catch as much wind as possible and make the ship go fast. So, press of sail means the 'maximum amount of sail that a ship can carry safely'.