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Sally   /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."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Sally" Quotes from Famous Books



... half-cough, half-laugh, with which Oaklands acknowledged this sally, attracted Coleman's attention, and mimicking the sound, he continued, "A—ha—hem! and what may that mean? I say, there's some mystery going on here from which I'm excluded—that's not fair, though, you know. Come, be a little more transparent; give me a peep ...
— Frank Fairlegh - Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil • Frank E. Smedley

... stretch the long islands of Sumatra, Java, Bally, and Timor; which, with many others, form a vast mole, or rampart, lengthwise connecting Asia with Australia, and dividing the long unbroken Indian ocean from the thickly studded oriental archipelagoes. This rampart is pierced by several sally-ports for the convenience of ships and whales; conspicuous among which are the straits of Sunda and Malacca. By the straits of Sunda, chiefly, vessels bound to China from the west, emerge into the China seas. Those narrow straits of Sunda divide Sumatra from ...
— Moby-Dick • Melville

... gannin thy ways,' says t' lad, 'so, if thou likes, thou can coom alang wi' me. Thou'll happen not have seen me afore, but I can tell who thou is by t' way thou favvours thy mother. Thou'll have heerd tell o' thy uncle, Ned Bowker, that lives ower by Sally Abbey; he's my father, so I reckon ...
— More Tales of the Ridings • Frederic Moorman

... you better lay late to-morrer mornin'," he said, rising to close the windows and wind the clock. "I'll ride over and get Sally Drew to come and stay a ...
— Country Neighbors • Alice Brown

... he saw a former sweetheart, the Sally Bush of younger days, now Mrs. Daniel Johnston, widow of the county jailer who had recently died, leaving three children and considerable property, for that time and place. Thomas renewed his suit and won the pitying heart ...
— The Story of Young Abraham Lincoln • Wayne Whipple


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