crowd sail

crowd (on) sail

To spread the sail so that a vessel moves faster. We need to crowd sail if we want to reach the port before nightfall.

See also: crowd, sail

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 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.