"that ship has sailed" meaning in English

See that ship has sailed in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-that ship has sailed.wav [US] Forms: that ship has already sailed [alternative]
Head templates: {{en-head|phr|head=~sail􂀿ed􂁀}} that ship has sailed
  1. (originally US) That opportunity has already passed; it is too late to do anything about it. Synonyms: that train has left the station Related terms: close the stable door after the horse has bolted, cry over spilt milk, there's no point crying over spilt milk, genie is out of the bottle, miss the boat, water under the bridge Translations (that opportunity has passed): գնացքը գնացել է (gnacʻkʻə gnacʻel ē) (Armenian), влакът замина (vlakăt zamina) (Bulgarian), 時不再來 /时不再来 (Chinese Mandarin), 大勢已去 /大势已去 (dàshìyǐqù) (Chinese Mandarin), det tog er kørt (Danish), dat is een gepasseerd station (Dutch), se juna meni jo (Finnish), c'est trop tard (French), dieser Zug ist abgefahren (German), ez a vonat elment (már) (Hungarian), ez a hajó elment (már) (Hungarian), ez a hajó elúszott (már) (Hungarian), hai perso il treno (Italian), det toget er kjørt (Norwegian Bokmål), det løpet er kjørt (Norwegian Bokmål), pociąg już odjechał ze stacji (Polish), a fila anda (Portuguese), trece baba cu colacii (Romanian), поздно пить боржоми (pozdno pitʹ boržomi) (Russian), ese barco ya zarpó (Spanish), se te fue el tren (Spanish)

Alternative forms

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  "lang_code": "en",
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          "text": "It’s a comedy-drama called Three Weeks; we’re shooting this autumn and it’s my directorial debut, which is exciting. It’s about a woman coming to terms with the fact that she doesn’t want to be a mother. She’s in her 30s, realising the truth of watching that ship sail as a choice.",
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        "That opportunity has already passed; it is too late to do anything about it."
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        "(originally US) That opportunity has already passed; it is too late to do anything about it."
      ],
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        {
          "word": "close the stable door after the horse has bolted"
        },
        {
          "word": "cry over spilt milk"
        },
        {
          "word": "there's no point crying over spilt milk"
        },
        {
          "word": "genie is out of the bottle"
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        {
          "word": "miss the boat"
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          "word": "that train has left the station"
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          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "lang_code": "hy",
          "roman": "gnacʻkʻə gnacʻel ē",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "գնացքը գնացել է"
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          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "lang_code": "bg",
          "roman": "vlakăt zamina",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "влакът замина"
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          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "時不再來 /时不再来"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "dàshìyǐqù",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "大勢已去 /大势已去"
        },
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          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "lang_code": "da",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "det tog er kørt"
        },
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          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "dat is een gepasseerd station"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "se juna meni jo"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "c'est trop tard"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "dieser Zug ist abgefahren"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "ez a vonat elment (már)"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "ez a hajó elment (már)"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "ez a hajó elúszott (már)"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "hai perso il treno"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "lang_code": "nb",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "det toget er kjørt"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "lang_code": "nb",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "det løpet er kjørt"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "pociąg już odjechał ze stacji"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "a fila anda"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "trece baba cu colacii"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "note": "по́езд ушёл (pójezd ušól, literally “the train is gone”)",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "pozdno pitʹ boržomi",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "поздно пить боржоми"
        },
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          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "ese barco ya zarpó"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
          "word": "se te fue el tren"
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      "word": "close the stable door after the horse has bolted"
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      "word": "cry over spilt milk"
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      "word": "there's no point crying over spilt milk"
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      "word": "genie is out of the bottle"
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        "That opportunity has already passed; it is too late to do anything about it."
      ],
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        "(originally US) That opportunity has already passed; it is too late to do anything about it."
      ],
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          "word": "that train has left the station"
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    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "lang_code": "hy",
      "roman": "gnacʻkʻə gnacʻel ē",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "գնացքը գնացել է"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "lang_code": "bg",
      "roman": "vlakăt zamina",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "влакът замина"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "時不再來 /时不再来"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "dàshìyǐqù",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "大勢已去 /大势已去"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "lang_code": "da",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "det tog er kørt"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "dat is een gepasseerd station"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "se juna meni jo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "c'est trop tard"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "dieser Zug ist abgefahren"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "ez a vonat elment (már)"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "ez a hajó elment (már)"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "ez a hajó elúszott (már)"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "hai perso il treno"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "lang_code": "nb",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "det toget er kjørt"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "lang_code": "nb",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "det løpet er kjørt"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "pociąg już odjechał ze stacji"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "a fila anda"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "trece baba cu colacii"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "note": "по́езд ушёл (pójezd ušól, literally “the train is gone”)",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "pozdno pitʹ boržomi",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "поздно пить боржоми"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "ese barco ya zarpó"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "that opportunity has passed",
      "word": "se te fue el tren"
    }
  ],
  "word": "that ship has sailed"
}

Download raw JSONL data for that ship has sailed meaning in English (6.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.