sally
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sally¹
- /ˈsæli/
Rhymes with -æli
Where it comes from
From Middle English saly, from Old English saliġ, sealh (“willow”). More at sallow.
noun sallies · salley
- A willow.
- Any tree that resembles a willow.
- An object made from the wood of a willow.
sally²
- /ˈsæli/
Rhymes with -æli
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French saillie, from sailli, the past participle of the verb saillir (“to leap forth”), itself from Latin salīre (“to leap”).
noun sallies · salley
- A sortie of troops from a besieged place against an enemy. The rest of his horsemen the Duke sent to his campe, bicause they heard a great noise there, and doubted the enimies sally, and indeede they had issued foorth thrise, but were alwaies repulsed, especially through the valiantns of the English men that the Duke left there behind him [...]
- A sudden rushing forth. Flocks of these birds stir up flying insects, which can then be picked off in quick sallies.
- A witty statement or quip, usually at the expense of one's interlocutor. 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.
- An excursion or side trip. 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.
- A tufted woollen part of a bellrope, used to provide grip when ringing a bell.
verb sallies · sallying · sallied · salley
- To make a sudden attack (e.g. on an enemy from a defended position). The troops sallied in desperation.
- To set out on an excursion; venture; depart (often followed by "forth"). Where else but from Nantucket did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red-Men, first sally out in canoes to give chase to the Leviathan?
- To venture off the beaten path.
sally³
- /ˈsæli/
Rhymes with -æli
noun sallies · salley
-
A member of the Salvation Army.
Similar: Salvo
sally⁴
- /ˈsæli/
Rhymes with -æli
Where it comes from
Unknown.
noun sallies · salley
- A kind of stonefly.
- A wren.
sally⁵
- /ˈsæli/
Rhymes with -æli
noun salley
- The crystalline or powdered form of MDA.
Sally⁶
- /ˈsæl.i/
Sounds like celly, selly (celery-salary merger) · Rhymes with -æli
Where it comes from
A diminutive lambdacism of Sarah. Compare Hal from Harry and Moll from Mary.
proper noun Sallys · Sallies · Sallie
- A diminutive of the female given name Sarah, also used as a formal given name. She submitted―for what alternative did she have?―to being Sally in this family, but she always signed herself, Sarah.
- A nickname for the Salvation Army.
noun Sallie
- Alternative letter-case form of sally: the crystalline or powdered form of MDA.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: crack, sortie, wisecrack, quip, sallying forth, salt, sal, sunny, okay, outburst, god, solly, suzanne, kate, suzie, salim
Translations
Every language
noun sortie — see also sortie
| Français | saillie |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Ausfall, Versuch |
| Italiano | sortita |
| Русский | вы́лазка výlazka |
noun witty statement or quip
| Deutsch | geistreiche Bemerkung, Stichelei, Witzelei, witziger Einfall |
|---|---|
| Русский | остро́та ostróta, остроу́мная ре́плика ostroúmnaja réplika |
noun excursion or side trip
| Deutsch | Ausflug |
|---|
verb to make a sudden attack
| Deutsch | einen Ausfall machen, herausstürmen, hinausstürmen, hervorbrechen, anstürmen, attackieren |
|---|
verb to set out on an excursion
| Deutsch | aufbrechen, sich aufmachen, aufmachen, losmachen, losgehen, sich auf den Weg machen |
|---|
Talk about this word "sally." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sally. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sally. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sally "sally." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sally.Cite this
@misc{sally_2026,
title = {sally},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sally},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
