trim one's sails
English
editAlternative forms
editVerb
edittrim 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)
- (nautical) To adjust a ship's sails to make the best of wind conditions.
- (figurative, by extension) To adapt to changing circumstances, especially if it involves scaling back one's ambitions; to make cutbacks.
Translations
editto make cutbacks
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Further reading
edit- “trim one’s sails”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “https://www.dictionary.com/browse/trim-one-s-sails”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “trim one's sails”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- “trim your sails”, in Collins English Dictionary.