sally

1 of 2

noun

sal·ly ˈsa-lē

plural sallies

Synonyms of sally

: an action of rushing or bursting forth

especially : a sortie of troops from a defensive position to attack the enemy

: a brief outbreak : outburst

: a witty or imaginative saying : quip

: a venture or excursion usually off the beaten track : jaunt

sally

2 of 2

verb

sallied; sallying

intransitive verb

: to leap out or burst forth suddenly

: set out, depart

—often used with forth

Examples of sally in a Sentence

Noun a morning sally out to see the historic monuments around the city the final sally made her laugh, and that ended the argument Verb he eagerly sallied forth from his small town to seek a new life in the bustling city

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

The most comprehensive sally, of course, is the administration’s drastic and abrupt cut in funding by the National Institutes of Health. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2025

Most recently, the Kremlin has settled on a strategy that involves legal sallies against international digital companies—including Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter. —Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2015 He was born into a rich family, and his father, the outer-borough real-estate developer Fred Trump, financed his early sallies into Manhattan real estate. —John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024 The close relationship between Abe and Hudson really got under way after his first disastrous sally as prime minister in 2006–7, when everyone in Japan thought his political career was over. —Arthur Herman, National Review, 8 July 2022 Both nominees would be vital to Democrats push to revive Net neutrality, the latest sally in a decades-long battle over whether all Internet traffic should be treated equally by providers. —BostonGlobe.com, 26 Oct. 2021 And consider compromise that can bring most everyone to the table in agreement, rather than insisting on a quixotic sally into a windmill that might flip a body into the air and leave it to fall. —Erik Sherman, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2021 As Claremont puts a great deal of effort into promoting constitutional principles and the Founding, this is a peculiarly off-base sally. —Kyle Smith, National Review, 21 Aug. 2019 Her writing blows sad and then joyful, warm then cool, with surprising sallies into magical realism and religious critique. —Madeleine Schwartz, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019

Verb

That may last for a while as buyers who weren’t able to purchase an apartment during the depths of the pandemic restrictions finally sally forth. —Jacky Wong, WSJ, 20 June 2022 In 2018, for instance, an American aircraft-carrier sallied into the Arctic Circle for the first time in 30 years, during a huge exercise in Norway. —The Economist, 16 May 2020 In addition to this, the two foresters cite other assaults: the beetle colonies that waited out the newly mild winters in the dead wood left by the high winds, and which sallied forth aggressively this year to attack new stands. —National Geographic, 13 Jan. 2020 From the school, convoys sallied forth every morning toward the half-dozen sawmills that lay beyond town, hidden behind high plank walls. —Felipe Fittipaldi, National Geographic, 28 Aug. 2019 Cleander, who commanded the Praetorian Guards, ordered a body of cavalry to sally forth and disperse the seditious multitude. —Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 6 June 2019 In my own hopelessly romantic eyes, Dr. Hawking in the Copley Plaza will always be St. George in a wheelchair, sallying forth to slay the black-hole dragon. —Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2018 So many people going to the game or other festivities surrounding the game are waiting for temperatures to safely rise above freezing levels before sallying out. —Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 8 Jan. 2018

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French saillie, from Old French, from saillir to rush forward, from Latin salire to leap; akin to Greek hallesthai to leap

First Known Use

Noun

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of sally was in 1560

See more words from the same year

Browse Nearby Words

Sallust

sally

sally-bloom

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Sally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sally. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

sally

1 of 2 noun

sal·ly ˈsal-ē

plural sallies

: an action of rushing or bursting out

especially : a sudden attack of surrounded troops upon the attackers

: a witty remark : quip

: excursion sense 1a, jaunt

sally

2 of 2 verb

sallied; sallying

: to leap or burst out suddenly

: set out sense 2, depart

sallied out to see the town

Last Updated: 17 Feb 2025 - Updated example sentences

sally

noun

verb

Synonyms

Examples of sally in a Sentence

Word History

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

More from Merriam-Webster on sally

More from Merriam-Webster

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

cynosure

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Words You Always Have to Look Up

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Popular in Wordplay

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Popular

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Games & Quizzes

sally

noun

verb

Synonyms

Examples of sally in a Sentence

Word History

Phrases Containing sally

Rhymes for sally

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Share

Kids Definition

More from Merriam-Webster on sally

More from Merriam-Webster

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

cynosure

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Words You Always Have to Look Up

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Popular in Wordplay

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Popular

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Games & Quizzes