sail close to the wind

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sail close to the wind (third-person singular simple present sails close to the wind, present participle sailing close to the wind, simple past and past participle sailed close to the wind)

1. (nautical) To sail in a direction close to that from which the wind is blowing, but still making headway
2. (idiomatic) To behave in a manner that is on the verge of being dangerous, improper or illegal
   • 2022 May 28, Phil McCulty, “Liverpool 0-1 Real Madrid”, in BBC Sport:

     Real have sailed close to the wind in the Champions League this season, most notably when they needed two goals to survive against Manchester City in the semi-final with 90 minutes gone.

• close-hauled

• “sail close to the wind”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “sail close to the wind”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “sail close to the wind” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.