trim one's sails

English

Alternative forms

• trim one's sails to the wind

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. (nautical) To adjust a ship's sails to make the best of wind conditions.

   Synonym: shorten sail

2. (figurative, by extension) To adapt to changing circumstances, especially if it involves scaling back one's ambitions; to make cutbacks.

Translations

adjust a ship's sails

• Italian: assettare la velatura

to make cutbacks

• Finnish: tehdä leikkauksia
• French: réduire la voilure (fr)
• Italian: agire secondo il vento che tira

Further reading

• “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.