SALLY • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Sally

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/sˈæli/ Listen

noun

Sally n. (pl. sallies)

1.

A leaping forth; a darting; a spring.

2.

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. "Sallies were made by the Spaniards, but they were beaten in with loss."

3.

An excursion from the usual track; range; digression; deviation. "Every one 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."

4.

A flight of fancy, liveliness, wit, or the like; a flashing forth of a quick and active mind. "The unaffected mirth with which she enjoyed his sallies."

5.

Transgression of the limits of soberness or steadiness; act of levity; wild gayety; frolic; escapade. "The excursion was esteemed but a sally of youth."

Sally port.

(a)

(Fort.) A postern gate, or a passage underground, from the inner to the outer works, to afford free egress for troops in a sortie.

(b)

(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.

verb

Sally v. i. (past & past part. sallied; pres. part. sallying) 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. "They break the truce, and sally out by night." "The foe retires, she heads the sallying host."

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Etymology of 'Sally'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sally" Quotes from Famous Books

... sally John started homeward, and Ree resumed his search for blood-stains in the snow which would show him the trail he sought. Going about among the rocks he discovered an opening about half the size of a door which seemed to lead straight back ...

— Far Past the Frontier • James A. Braden

... advance detachment, to occupy the castle, while he himself followed more slowly with the main body. The castle refused to surrender. Odo's expression of face made known his real wishes, and was more convincing than his words. A sudden sally of the garrison overpowered his guards, and the bishop was carried into the castle to try the fortune of a siege once more. For this siege the king again appealed to the country and called for the help of all under ...

— The History of England From the Norman Conquest - to the Death of John (1066-1216) • George Burton Adams

... said; "but why should I complain? Ye are like me, that was here at watch two hours before the day. But this is the first sally of mine arms; upon this adventure, Master Shelton, shall I make or mar the quality of my renown. There lie mine enemies, under two old, skilled captains, Risingham and Brackley, well posted for strength, I do believe, but yet upon two ...

— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 8 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... Company came up with their wives; "angel-fish" swam in and out of the aquarium; Bermuda friends came to see the new home; Robert Collier, the publisher, and his wife—"Mrs. Sally," as Clemens liked to call her—paid their visits; Lord Northcliffe, who was visiting America, came with Colonel Harvey, and was so impressed with the architecture of Stormfield that he adopted its plans for a country-place he was about to build ...

— Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete - The Personal And Literary Life Of Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Albert Bigelow Paine

... was determined upon taking the city; and though five hundred of his men were slain in a sally of the Romans, he reduced it to the greatest straits, and turning the siege into a blockade, resolved to take it by famine. 19. The distress of the besieged soon began to be insufferable, and all things seemed to threaten a speedy surrender, ...

— Pinnock's Improved Edition of Dr. Goldsmith's History of Rome • Oliver Goldsmith

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