cruise

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch kruisen (“cross, sail around”), from kruis (“cross”), from Middle Dutch cruce, from Latin crux.

noun

1. A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure.
   He departed with the Naniwa and the Hashidate²⁰ for a two day cruise, skirting the Wuchiu and Hui Ch’uan Islands and the shore of Fukien Province. 1936, Edwin A. Falk, Togo and the Rise of Japanese Sea Power, Longmans, Green and Co., →OCLC, →OL, page 229
2. (aeronautics) Portion of aircraft travel at a constant airspeed and altitude between ascent and descent phases.
3. (US, military, informal) A period spent in the Marine Corps.
   I ended my cruise of four years in the Marine Corps at the first Officers' Training Camp for enlisted men at Quantico […] 1919, United States. Marine Corps, Recruiters' Bulletin, page 16
   The New Orleans had to have numerous alterations made, and as the Chicago was just about going into commission, I was ordered to that ship to finish my cruise. 2015, George Barnett, Andy Barnett, George Barnett, Marine Corps Commandant: A Memoir, 1877-1923
4. A car enthusiasts' event where they drive their vehicles in a group. See Cruising (driving).
5. (bodybuilding, slang) A period of reducing the dosage of PEDs instead of cycling them off as opposed to a full-dosed cycle (blast).
   Coordinate term: blast

verb

1. (intransitive) To sail about, especially for pleasure.
2. (intransitive) To travel at constant speed for maximum operating efficiency.
3. (transitive) To move about an area leisurely in the hope of discovering something, or looking for custom.
4. (transitive, intransitive, forestry) To inspect (forest land) for the purpose of estimating the quantity of lumber it will yield.
5. (transitive, intransitive, colloquial) To actively seek a romantic partner or casual sexual partner by moving about a particular area; to troll.
6. (transitive, colloquial) To attempt to pick up as a casual sexual partner; hit on
   1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure Lot of not too bad looking boys there but when M came in I knew right then: him. Very thin & feminine, brown hair fluffed around his sharp featured face. So I began cruising him.
7. (intransitive, child development) To walk while holding on to an object (stage in development of ambulation, typically occurring at 10 months).
8. (intransitive, sports) To win easily and convincingly.
   Germany cruised to a World Cup victory over the short-handed Australians.
9. (intransitive) To take part in a cruise (car enthusiasts' event where they drive their vehicles in a group).
10. (bodybuilding, slang) To have a period of reducing the dosage of PEDs instead of cycling them off as opposed to going through a full-dosed cycle (blast).
    Coordinate term: blast
    blast and cruise

Etymology 2

noun

1. A small cup; cruse.
   And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. King James translators, 1 Kings 17:12