Sally

Word of the Day

Sally

\ SAL-ee \  , noun;

1. An excursion or trip, usually off the main course.

2. A sortie of troops from a besieged place upon an enemy.

3. A sudden rushing forth or activity.

verb:

1. To make a sally, as a body of troops from a besieged place.

2. To set out on a side trip or excursion.

3. To set out briskly or energetically.

4. (of things) to issue forth.

Quotes: Don Quixote happened to take the same road he'd followed on his first sally , across the plain on Montiel, with less discomfort than before, because it was early morning and the sun, being low, didn't bother them.

-- Miguel de Cervantes, translated by John Rutherford, Don Quixote , 1605

He himself never wears jewels and as a matter of fact does not even carry money, borrowing a dollar from his doorman when he makes a sally  from his office.

-- Herbert Brean, "Golconda on E. 51st," Life , 1952

Origin:

Sally  comes from the Latin salīre  meaning "to leap" by way of the Middle French saillie , which means "attack." It entered English in the mid-1500s.