English · Idiom Historical

to back the sails

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

So to arrange them that the ship's way may be checked.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

sắp xếp cánh buồm để kiểm soát hướng đi của tàu

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Sea & boats Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “to back the sails” mean?

So to arrange them that the ship's way may be checked.

Is “to back the sails” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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