Take the Wind Out of Someone's Sails

A genuine sailing tactic from the Age of Sail. A ship could deliberately manoeuvre to windward of a rival, literally blocking the wind from reaching the other vessel's sails and leaving it slowed or stalled dead in the water, a real and sometimes decisive advantage in naval combat and racing alike. The phrase was used in this literal nautical sense until around 1800, and Sir Walter Scott gave it an early figurative outing in his 1822 novel The Fortunes of Nigel: "He would take the wind out of the sail of every gallant."