a sortie of troops from a besieged place upon an enemy.
a sudden rushing forth or activity.
an excursion or trip, usually off the main course.
an outburst or flight of passion, fancy, etc..
a sally of anger.
a clever, witty, or fanciful remark.
Carpentry. a projection, as of the end of a rafter beyond the notch by which the rafter is fitted over the wall plate.
to make a sally, as a body of troops from a besieged place.
to set out on a side trip or excursion.
to set out briskly or energetically.
(of things) to issue forth.
a sudden violent excursion, esp by besieged forces to attack the besiegers; sortie
a sudden outburst or emergence into action, expression, or emotion
an excursion or jaunt
a jocular retort
to make a sudden violent excursion
(often foll by forth) to go out on an expedition, etc
to come, go, or set out in an energetic manner
to rush out suddenly
1535–45; < Middle French saillie attack, noun use of feminine past participle of saillir to rush forward < Latin salīre to leap
A sally is a military action, a sudden charge in the direction of the enemy. A sally sometimes has the advantage of taking the opposing army by surprise. When soldiers who have been on the defensive, having retreated to a foxhole or fort, make an abrupt offensive attack on their opponents, it's a sally. Another word for this kind of sally is a sortie. You can also call a sudden funny remark or comeback a sally, especially during a witty, back-and-forth, or bantering kind of conversation. The word comes from the Middle French saillie, "a rushing forth," from the Latin salire, "to leap."
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Depending on how the record was taken, people would pay hundreds of dollars for a stenographer’s transcript versus $10 for an electronic recording, says Sally A. Holewa, the state court administrator.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2026
It's placed right next to the iconic blue t-shirt worn by Sally Ride on the 1983 Shuttle mission when she became the first American woman in space.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
Sally Pillay and Megan Anandarangam, of Eyes on ICE NJ, a grassroots anti-detention coalition, showed up long before the cameras arrived.
From Slate • May 29, 2026
Beside it is the pale blue flight jacket of Sally Ride, a physicist who in 1983 became the first American woman in space.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
Up in the pasture, Sally Gooden mooed her delight with the juicy, green world.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
