plane sailing
Syllables: plane sail·ingUK/ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/
plane sailing noun: a technique for navigation using the assumption that the journey occurs over a plane or flat surface rather than the actual curved surface of the Earth, which is sufficiently accurate over short distances. Also the alternative spelling of plain sailing.
Noun
plane sailing (uncountable)
- A technique for navigation using the assumption that the journey occurs over a plane or flat surface rather than the actual curved surface of the Earth, which is sufficiently accurate over short distances.
- […] I hired a Tonquineſe for about a Dollar to be my guide. This, tho but a ſmall matter, vvas a great deal out of my Pocket, vvho had not above 2 Dollars in all, vvhich I had gotten on board, by teaching ſome of our young Seamen Plain Sailing.1699, William Dampier, “Some Vessels Sent from Cachao to Tenan to Fetch Rice. […]”, in Voyages and Descriptions. Vol. II. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, part I (His Voyage from Achin in...
- […] Me[r]cators Sailing gives the correct Difference of Latitude and Longitude both; Middle Latitude Sailing, only the correct Difference of Longitude; Plain Sailing gives neither correctly; and therefore their Merits are in Proportion.1735, Benjamin Martin, “The Use of Decimals in Plain Trigonometry, and Other Mathmatical Sciences Depending thereon”, in A New Compleat and Universal System or Body of Decimal Arithmetick, […]...
Also used as
plane sailing is also the alternative spelling of plain sailing.
Forms of plane sailing
| alternative form | plain sailing |
|---|
Origin of plane sailing
From plane (adjective) + sailing (noun), a variant of plain sailing probably by analogy with plane chart (“(nautical) chart representing the earth in which lines of latitude and longitude are respectively shown as parallel straight lines”) or plane scale (“(chiefly nautical, obsolete) scale or ruler with markings used for calculations, especially for navigation”).
Words that rhyme with plane sailing
Questions about plane sailing
- What does plane sailing mean?
- Plane sailing means a technique for navigation using the assumption that the journey occurs over a plane or flat surface rather than the actual curved surface of the Earth, which is sufficiently accurate over short distances.
- What part of speech is plane sailing?
- Plane sailing is a noun.
- How do you pronounce plane sailing?
- Plane sailing is pronounced /ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/ (UK).
Words near plane sailing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: plane sailing (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-plain sailing.oga.
Cite this entry: “plane sailing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plane_sailing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.