plural sallies
sallied; sallying
1
: to leap out or burst forth suddenly
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
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 27 Apr. 2025
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
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
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
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
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
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Noun
Prices of stocks and bonds, along with long-term interest rates, have oscillated up and down in response to the daily verbal sallies from the White House.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 27 Apr. 2025
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
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
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
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
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
Cite this Entry
“Sally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sally. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sally
2 of 2 verb
sallied; sallying
1
: to leap or burst out suddenly
2
: set out sense 2, depart
sallied out to see the town
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