cruise vs sail

cruise

verb
  • To sail about, especially for pleasure. 

  • To travel at constant speed for maximum operating efficiency. 

  • To actively seek a romantic partner or casual sexual partner by moving about a particular area; to troll. 

  • To move about an area leisurely in the hope of discovering something, or looking for custom. 

  • To take part in a cruise (car enthusiasts' event where they drive their vehicles in a group). 

  • To walk while holding on to an object (stage in development of ambulation, typically occurring at 10 months). 

  • To win easily and convincingly. 

  • To inspect (forest land) for the purpose of estimating the quantity of lumber it will yield. 

noun
  • Portion of aircraft travel at a constant airspeed and altitude between ascent and descent phases. 

  • A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure. 

  • A car enthusiasts' event where they drive their vehicles in a group. See Cruising (driving). 

  • A small cup; cruse. 

  • A period spent in the Marine Corps. 

sail

verb
  • To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat. 

  • To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl. 

  • To set sail; to begin a voyage. 

  • To move briskly and gracefully through the air. 

  • To move briskly but sedately. 

  • To deal out (cards) from a distance by impelling them across a surface. 

  • To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power. 

noun
  • A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes. 

  • Anything resembling a sail, such as a wing. 

  • A tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines. 

  • A sailfish. 

  • The blade of a windmill. 

  • The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport. 

  • The conning tower of a submarine. 

  • The floating organ of siphonophores, such as the Portuguese man-of-war. 

  • an outward projection of the spine, occurring in certain dinosaurs and synapsids 

  • A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat. 

  • The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance. 

How often have the words cruise and sail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )