Word.ws English Dictionary

trimmed one's sails

trimmed one's sails is the simple past and past participle of trim one's sails.

Meaning of trim one's sails

Verb

trim one's sails (third-person singular simple present trims one's sails, present participle trimming one's sails, simple past and past participle trimmed one's sails)

  1. To adjust a ship's sails to make the best of wind conditions.
    Synonyms:
    shorten sail
  2. (broadly, figuratively) To adapt to changing circumstances, especially if it involves scaling back one's ambitions; to make cutbacks.

Questions about trimmed one's sails

What is trimmed one's sails the simple past and past participle of?
Trimmed one's sails is the simple past and past participle of trim one's sails.

Words near trimmed one's sails in the dictionary

  1. trimm
  2. trimmability
  3. trimmable
  4. trimmed
  5. trimmed down to size
  6. trimmed one's sails
  7. trimmed up
  8. trimmer
  9. trimmers
  10. trimmest
  11. trimmeth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: trimmed one's sails (page history and authors); trim one's sails (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.

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