sally

sally

See also: Sally

English

Alternative forms

• salley (obsolete)

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

• sally rod

Translations

willow — see willow

tree that looks like a willow

Finnish: paju (fi)

object made of willow

Finnish: pajuesine

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: (please verify) wilgenroede German: (please verify) Weidengerte (de)

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], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, 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 43419454:

     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[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, OCLC 6963663:

     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

sortie — See also translations at sortie

Dutch: uitval (nl) Finnish: rynnäkkö (fi) French: saillie (fr) f German: Ausfall (de) m, Versuch (de) m Irish: Old Irish: sruth Italian: sortita (it) f Latin: excursus m Polish: wycieczka (pl) f Russian: вы́лазка (ru) f (výlazka) Slovak: výpad Turkish: çıkış (tr)

sudden rushing forth

Bulgarian: изблик (bg) m (izblik) Dutch: uitval (nl) Finnish: ryntäys German: Ausfall (de) m, Vorstürmen n, Anstürmen (de) n, Hechten (de) n, Ansturm (de) m, Ausbruch (de) m, Anfallen n Slovak: výpad

witty statement or quip

Dutch: uitval (nl) Finnish: sutkaus German: geistreiche Bemerkung f, Stichelei (de) f, Witzelei (de) f, witziger Einfall m Russian: остро́та (ru) f (ostróta), остроу́мная ре́плика f (ostroúmnaja réplika) Slovak: ostrovtip

excursion or side trip

Bulgarian: екскурзия (bg) f (ekskurzija) Dutch: uitstap (nl) Finnish: retki (fi) German: Ausflug (de) m Polish: wycieczka (pl) f, wypad (pl) m Slovak: úskok Swedish: utflykt (sv)

tufted woollen part of a bellrope

See also

• sally port

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.")

   As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action.

   - William Manchester

   • 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.

3. (intransitive) To venture off the beaten path.

Translations

to make a sudden attack

Bulgarian: нападам внезапно (napadam vnezapno) Dutch: een uitval doen Finnish: rynnäköidä German: einen Ausfall machen, herausstürmen, hinausstürmen, hervorbrechen (de), anstürmen (de), attackieren (de), stürmen (de), aufspringen (de) Swedish: göra utfall

to set out on an excursion

Bulgarian: отправям се (otpravjam se) Finnish: lähteä retkelle German: aufbrechen (de), sich aufmachen, aufmachen (de), losmachen (de), losgehen (de), sich auf den Weg machen

to venture off the beaten path

Etymology 3

salvation +‎ -y

Noun

sally (plural sallies)

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

Synonyms

• Salvo

Related terms

• Sally Army

Etymology 4

Unknown.

Noun

sally (plural sallies)

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

References

• “sally”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Sylla, lylas, y'all's, y'alls