crowd sail

crowd (on) sail

nautical To spread the sail so that a vessel moves faster. We need to crowd sail if we want to reach the port before nightfall. Come on, fellas, crowd on sail so we're not still out here when that storm rolls through. A: "Any chance we can speed 'er up?" B: "Yeah, have the crew crowd sail."

See also: crowd, sail

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

crowd (on) sail

Nautical

To spread a large amount of sail to increase speed.

See also: crowd, sail

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.