Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To rush out or leap forth suddenly.
  • intransitive verb To issue suddenly from a defensive or besieged position to attack an enemy.
  • intransitive verb To set out on a trip or excursion.
  • noun A sudden rush forward or leap.
  • noun An assault from a defensive position; a sortie.
  • noun A sudden effort toward action or expression.
  • noun A sudden quick witticism; a quip.
  • noun A venturing forth; a jaunt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as sallow.
  • To leap; spring; dance.
  • To leap, dash, or spring forth; burst out; specifically, to make a sally, as a body of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers; hence, to set out briskly or energetically.
  • To mount; copulate with: said of horses.
  • noun A leap or spring; a darting; a dance.
  • noun A sudden rush, dash, or springing forth; specifically, a sudden and determined rush or eruption of troops from a besieged place to attack the besiegers; a sortie: as, the garrison made a sally.
  • noun A run or excursion; a trip or jaunt; a going out in general.
  • noun In architecture, a projection; the end of a piece of timber cut with an interior angle formed by two planes across the fibers, as the feet of common rafters.
  • noun An outburst, as of imagination, fancy, merriment, etc.; a flight; hence, a freak, frolic, or escapade.
  • noun See salenixon.
  • noun The wren, Troglodytes parvulus.
  • noun A kind of stone-fly; one of the Perlidæ: as, the yellow sally, Chloroperla viridis, much used by anglers in England.
  • noun Also applied to several species of trees belonging to the genus Eucalyptus.
  • noun Acacia melanoxylon. See blackwood, 2.
  • noun Eucryphia Moorei. See plum, 7.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To leap or rush out; to burst forth; to issue suddenly; as a body of troops from a fortified place to attack besiegers; to make a sally.
  • noun A leaping forth; a darting; a spring.
  • noun A rushing or bursting forth; a quick issue; a sudden eruption; specifically, an issuing of troops from a place besieged to attack the besiegers; a sortie.
  • noun An excursion from the usual track; range; digression; deviation.
  • noun A flight of fancy, liveliness, wit, or the like; a flashing forth of a quick and active mind.
  • noun Transgression of the limits of soberness or steadiness; act of levity; wild gayety; frolic; escapade.
  • noun (Fort.), (Naval) A large port on each quarter of a fireship, for the escape of the men into boats when the train is fired; a large port in an old-fashioned three-decker or a large modern ironclad.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A willow
  • noun Any tree that looks like a willow
  • noun An object made from the above trees' wood
  • noun New Zealand, slang A member of the Salvation Army.
  • noun A sortie of troops from a besieged place against an enemy.
  • noun A sudden rushing forth.
  • noun figuratively A witty statement or quip, usually at the expense of one's interlocutor.
  • noun An excursion or side trip.
  • noun A tufted woollen part of a bellrope, used to provide grip when ringing a bell.
  • verb intransitive To make a sudden attack on an enemy from a defended position.
  • verb intransitive To set out on an excursion; venture; depart (often followed by "forth.")
  • verb intransitive To venture off the beaten path.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a venture off the beaten path
  • noun a military action in which besieged troops burst forth from their position
  • noun witty remark

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From French saillie, a sally, from Old French, from feminine past participle of salir, to rush forward, from Latin salīre, to leap; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From salvation in Salvation Army, from Latin salvatio

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French saillie, from sailli, the past participle of the verb saillir 'to leap forth', itself from Latin salire 'to leap'

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sally.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The H.M.S. Sally was listed as a "transport" captured at Yorktown in 1781.

    October 29, 2007

  • Long Tall Sally by Little Richard

    Mustang Sally by Wilson Pickett

    Sally Go 'Round the Roses by the Jaynetts

    February 8, 2008

  • Also "Sally MacLennane," a GREAT song by the Pogues.

    And "Sally Walker" by Leadbelly.

    February 9, 2008

  • Also 'Dear Sally' by Ben & Jason.

    February 9, 2008

  • This is also a verb: To set out boldly, to go forth; also to dance

    May 2, 2008

  • It is also the Irish English form for willow. Also SALLEY.

    October 11, 2008