a simultaneous or successive discharge of artillery, bombs, etc.
a round of fire given as a salute.
a round of cheers or applause.
an excuse or quibbling evasion.
something to save a person's reputation or soothe a person's feelings.
a discharge of fire from weapons in unison, esp on a ceremonial occasion
concentrated fire from many weapons, as in a naval battle
an outburst, as of applause
an excuse or evasion
an expedient to save a reputation or soothe hurt feelings
(in legal documents) a saving clause; reservation
1585–95; earlier salva < Italian ≪ Latin salvē salve 3
1635–45; < Latin salvō, ablative of salvus safe, found in legal phrases
A salvo is when troops fire their guns all at the same time. A salvo of shots might signal the beginning of a military battle. Another word for the gunfire kind of salvo is a "volley." Military planners have used salvos as a way to overwhelm an opposing army, including during engagements between battleships and tanks. You can also use salvo in a more figurative way, describing a verbal barrage or attack: "Her direct, almost rude questions were seen as the opening salvo in the battle between the two political candidates."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The latest salvo comes shortly after a 25 percent tariff took effect on various Brazilian goods, as Washington accused the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
But it was the sight of loosehead prop Ox Nche stampeding through Ollie Chessum and Jamie George, with the England defence desperately, vainly backpedalling, that summed up a brutally chastening opening salvo.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
In his opening salvo as Federal Reserve Chairman, Kevin Warsh pushed back on the practice of providing markets with signals on future rate policy.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Dataland’s inaugural exhibition, “Machine Dreams: Rainforest,” is the studio’s opening salvo in the battle to redefine our burgeoning relationship with the evolving technology.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The full and better-recorded salvo came late in 1800 and early in 1801, during the debate in the House of Representatives over the presidential deadlock between Burr and Jefferson.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
But as the price of his satellite service increased, De Salvo cut the cord in 2021 and declined to follow the team to its new TV home on a competing pay channel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
On Monday afternoon, little Salvo Bessemer was walking toward the family car when he suddenly stopped, turned around and sprinted back through the front gate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
A video tour was uploaded to the Salvo website, showing never-seen-before footage of the entire collection.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2024
The last time that Donna De Salvo, a senior adjunct curator at Dia, worked with McQueen, in 2016, she was chief curator at the Whitney Museum, where they showed “End Credits.”
From New York Times ● May 10, 2024
"What did she say about Salvo?" hissed the woman.
From The Motor Girls Through New England or, Held by the Gypsies by Penrose, Margaret
With the official status of talks between Washington and Tehran uncertain and ahead of a meeting in Pakistan on Monday with key regional players, daily salvoes of strikes across the region have continued unabated.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
The tone of the early salvoes dismayed Noura Bittar Søborg, a Syrian asylum seeker who fled Homs in 2011 and has managed to bring her father, mother and younger sister to Denmark.
From The Guardian ● May 30, 2015
Artillery salvoes were fired from an area that Nalyvaichenko said is under the control of a Cossack unit manned by Russian citizens.
From US News ● Feb. 15, 2015
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system has intercepted many of the rocket salvoes.
From Reuters ● Jul. 14, 2014
The ceremony was closed by flourishes of trumpets and salvoes of musketry, as if in honour of some great victory.
From History of The Reign of Philip The Second King of Spain Volume The Third and Biographical & Critical Miscellanies by Prescott, William Hickling
We are already seeing the first salvos of this escalated warfare.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2026
The IDF also said its defence systems had operated to intercept more salvos of Iranian missiles.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026
It would allow us to overwhelm our adversaries with large, affordable salvos of weapons that can be built and regenerated quickly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
Powell's remarks helped investors turn from the latest trade salvos between Washington and Beijing, with Trump last week threatening 100-percent tariffs owing to Chinese rate earth measures.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2025
He too had felt that ascending chill of déjà vu as he read the opening salvos of Mendel’s paper.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
