'To strike sail' definitions:

Definition of 'To strike sail'

From: GCIDE

Strike \Strike\, v. t. [imp. Struck; p. p. Struck, Stricken(Stroock, Strucken, Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Striking. Struck is more commonly used in the p. p. than stricken.] [OE. striken to strike, proceed, flow, AS. str[imac]can to go, proceed, akin to D. strijken to rub, stroke, strike, to move, go, G. streichen, OHG. str[imac]hhan, L. stringere to touch lightly, to graze, to strip off (but perhaps not to L. stringere in sense to draw tight), striga a row, a furrow. Cf. Streak, Stroke.]
1. To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either with the hand or with any instrument or missile. [1913 Webster]
He at Philippi kept His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship struck a reef. [1913 Webster]
3. To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast. [1913 Webster]
They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two sideposts. --Ex. xii. 7. [1913 Webster]
Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
4. To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint. [1913 Webster]
5. To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep. [1913 Webster]
6. To punish; to afflict; to smite. [1913 Webster]
To punish the just is not good, nor strike princes for equity. --Prov. xvii. 26. [1913 Webster]
7. To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve; the drums strike up a march. [1913 Webster]
8. To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch. [1913 Webster]
9. To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind, with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or horror. [1913 Webster]
Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the first view. --Atterbury. [1913 Webster]
They please as beauties, here as wonders strike. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
10. To affect in some particular manner by a sudden impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me favorably; to strike one dead or blind. [1913 Webster]
How often has stricken you dumb with his irony! --Landor. [1913 Webster]
11. To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a stroke; as, to strike a light. [1913 Webster]
Waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a universal peace through sea and land. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
12. To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match. [1913 Webster]
13. To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain. [1913 Webster]
Note: Probably borrowed from the L. foedus ferrire, to strike a compact, so called because an animal was struck and killed as a sacrifice on such occasions. [1913 Webster]
14. To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money. [Old Slang] [1913 Webster]
15. To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the level of the top. [1913 Webster]
16. (Masonry) To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle. [1913 Webster]
17. To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a strange word; they soon struck the trail. [1913 Webster]
18. To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck a friend for five dollars. [Slang] [1913 Webster]
19. To lade into a cooler, as a liquor. --B. Edwards. [1913 Webster]
20. To stroke or pass lightly; to wave. [1913 Webster]
Behold, I thought, He will . . . strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. --2 Kings v. 11. [1913 Webster]
21. To advance; to cause to go forward; -- used only in past participle. "Well struck in years." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
To strike an attitude, To strike a balance. See under Attitude, and Balance.
To strike a jury (Law), to constitute a special jury ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so as to reduce it to the number of persons required by law. --Burrill.
To strike a lead. (a) (Mining) To find a vein of ore. (b) Fig.: To find a way to fortune. [Colloq.]
To strike a ledger or To strike an account, to balance it.
To strike hands with. (a) To shake hands with. --Halliwell. (b) To make a compact or agreement with; to agree with.
To strike off. (a) To erase from an account; to deduct; as, to strike off the interest of a debt. (b) (Print.) To impress; to print; as, to strike off a thousand copies of a book. (c) To separate by a blow or any sudden action; as, to strike off what is superfluous or corrupt.
To strike oil, to find petroleum when boring for it; figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang, U.S.]
To strike one luck, to shake hands with one and wish good luck. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
To strike out. (a) To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike out sparks with steel. (b) To blot out; to efface; to erase. "To methodize is as necessary as to strike out." --Pope. (c) To form by a quick effort; to devise; to invent; to contrive, as, to strike out a new plan of finance. (d) (Baseball) To cause a player to strike out; -- said of the pitcher. See To strike out, under Strike, v. i.
To strike sail. See under Sail.
To strike up. (a) To cause to sound; to begin to beat. "Strike up the drums." --Shak. (b) To begin to sing or play; as, to strike up a tune. (c) To raise (as sheet metal), in making diahes, pans, etc., by blows or pressure in a die.
To strike work, to quit work; to go on a strike. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'To strike sail'

From: GCIDE

Sail \Sail\, n. [OE. seil, AS. segel, segl; akin to D. zeil, OHG. segal, G. & Sw. segel, Icel. segl, Dan. seil. [root] 153.]
1. An extent of canvas or other fabric by means of which the wind is made serviceable as a power for propelling vessels through the water. [1913 Webster]
Behoves him now both sail and oar. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
2. Anything resembling a sail, or regarded as a sail. [1913 Webster]
3. A wing; a van. [Poetic] [1913 Webster]
Like an eagle soaring To weather his broad sails. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
4. The extended surface of the arm of a windmill. [1913 Webster]
5. A sailing vessel; a vessel of any kind; a craft. [1913 Webster]
Note: In this sense, the plural has usually the same form as the singular; as, twenty sail were in sight. [1913 Webster]
6. A passage by a sailing vessel; a journey or excursion upon the water. [1913 Webster]
Note: Sails are of two general kinds, fore-and-aft sails, and square sails. Square sails are always bent to yards, with their foot lying across the line of the vessel. Fore-and-aft sails are set upon stays or gaffs with their foot in line with the keel. A fore-and-aft sail is triangular, or quadrilateral with the after leech longer than the fore leech. Square sails are quadrilateral, but not necessarily square. See Phrases under Fore, a., and Square, a.; also, Bark, Brig, Schooner, Ship, Stay. [1913 Webster]
Sail burton (Naut.), a purchase for hoisting sails aloft for bending.
Sail fluke (Zool.), the whiff.
Sail hook, a small hook used in making sails, to hold the seams square.
Sail loft, a loft or room where sails are cut out and made.
Sail room (Naut.), a room in a vessel where sails are stowed when not in use.
Sail yard (Naut.), the yard or spar on which a sail is extended.
Shoulder-of-mutton sail (Naut.), a triangular sail of peculiar form. It is chiefly used to set on a boat's mast.
To crowd sail. (Naut.) See under Crowd.
To loose sails (Naut.), to unfurl or spread sails.
To make sail (Naut.), to extend an additional quantity of sail.
To set a sail (Naut.), to extend or spread a sail to the wind.
To set sail (Naut.), to unfurl or spread the sails; hence, to begin a voyage.
To shorten sail (Naut.), to reduce the extent of sail, or take in a part.
To strike sail (Naut.), to lower the sails suddenly, as in saluting, or in sudden gusts of wind; hence, to acknowledge inferiority; to abate pretension.
Under sail, having the sails spread. [1913 Webster]