sally

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See also: Sally

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Noun

sally (plural sallies)

  1. A willow
  2. Any tree that looks like a willow
  3. An object made from the above trees' wood
Derived terms
Translations
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 2

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

Noun

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:
      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 and J 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 terms
  • salient (cognate; both of these military terms come from a verb meaning "to leap forth", but in different ways)
Translations
See also

Verb

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").
    • 1876, The Shamrock, volume 14:
      So I tucked my violin under my arm, and sallied out after the old budgy ragman, determined to ease him of his load at the very first lonesome corner I could track him to.
    • 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.
    • 2007 September 30, Andrew Salmon, “Dogfights and daring in Korea's deep blue yonder”, in South China Morning Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 March 2024, Latest:
      Along the Manchurian frontier was a 160km strip of land the US pilots dubbed 'MiG Alley'. Beyond it lay the North Korean, Chinese and Russian squadrons. From those airbases, MiGs sallied forth to attack the bombers striking North Korea.
  3. (intransitive) To venture off the beaten path.
Translations

Etymology 3

salvation +‎ -y

Noun

sally (plural sallies)

  1. (New Zealand, slang) A member of the Salvation Army.
Synonyms
Related terms

Etymology 4

Unknown.

Noun

sally (plural sallies)

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

References

Anagrams

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