Wiktionary

sally

See also: Sally

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈsæli/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æli

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English saly, from Old English saliġ, sealh (“willow”). More at sallow.

NounEdit

sally (plural sallies)

  1. A willow
  2. Any tree that looks like a willow
  3. An object made from the above trees' wood
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
willow — see willow
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2Edit

Borrowed from French saillie, from sailli, the past participle of the verb saillir (“to leap forth”), itself from Latin salīre (“to leap”).

NounEdit

sally (plural sallies)

  1. A sortie of troops from a besieged place against an enemy.
  2. A sudden rushing forth.
    Flocks of these birds stir up flying insects, which can then be picked off in quick sallies.
  3. (figuratively) A witty statement or quip, usually at the expense of one's interlocutor.
    • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The First Doubt”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 39:
      Till then she had never formed an idea of one so gifted and so charming. She listened with astonishment to her companion's gay sallies, and answers, as piquant as they were ready.
    • 1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC:
      Bull snuffed; he never paid any attention to her sallies but he heard them.
    • 2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club‎[1]:
      The stakes are low and the story beats are incidental amid the rush of largely mild visual gags and verbal sallies like “Blood Island! So called because it’s the exact shape of some blood!”
  4. An excursion or side trip.
    • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:
      Everyone shall know a country better that makes often sallies into it, and traverses it up and down, than he that […] goes still round in the same track.
  5. A tufted woollen part of a bellrope, used to provide grip when ringing a bell.
Related termsEdit
  • salient (cognate; both of these military terms come from a verb meaning "to leap forth", but in different ways)
TranslationsEdit
sortie — See also translations at sortie
See alsoEdit

VerbEdit

sally (third-person singular simple present sallies, present participle sallying, simple past and past participle sallied)

  1. (intransitive) To make a sudden attack (e.g. on an enemy from a defended position).
    The troops sallied in desperation.
    A feeding strategy of some birds is to sally out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch.
  2. (intransitive) To set out on an excursion; venture; depart (often followed by "forth.")
    As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action.
    - William Manchester
    • 1942 July-August, “The Country Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 194:
      Adverse comment begins with uncomplimentary observations on the somewhat harder seats, then reaches a crescendo when it is discovered that the perverse and unhurried train is actually going to wait for another connection which is running late, instead of sallying forth at once for the benefit of those already on board and leaving latecomers stranded.
  3. (intransitive) To venture off the beaten path.
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

salvation +‎ -y

NounEdit

sally (plural sallies)

  1. (New Zealand, slang) A member of the Salvation Army.
SynonymsEdit
Related termsEdit

Etymology 4Edit

Unknown.

NounEdit

sally (plural sallies)

  1. A kind of stonefly.
  2. A wren.

ReferencesEdit

AnagramsEdit

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