1.
[syn: fusillade, salvo, volley, burst]
2. a tennis return made by hitting the ball before it bounces;
VERB (5)
1. be dispersed in a volley;
- Example: "gun shots volleyed at the attackers"
2. hit before it touches the ground;
- Example: "volley the tennis ball"
3. discharge in, or as if in, a volley;
- Example: "the attackers volleyed gunshots at the civilians"
4. make a volley;
5. utter rapidly;
- Example: "volley a string of curses"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Volley \Vol"ley\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Volleyed; p. pr. & vb.
n. Volleying.]
To discharge with, or as with, a volley.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Volley \Vol"ley\, v. i.
1. To be thrown out, or discharged, at once; to be discharged
in a volley, or as if in a volley; to make a volley or
volleys. --Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
2.
(a) (Tennis) To return the ball before it touches the
ground.
(b)
(Cricket) To send the ball full to the top of the wicket.
--R. A. Proctor.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Volley \Vol"ley\, n.; pl. Volleys. [F. vol['e]e; flight, a
volley, or discharge of several guns, fr. voler to fly, L.
volare. See Volatile.]
1. A flight of missiles, as arrows, bullets, or the like; the
simultaneous discharge of a number of small arms.
[1913 Webster]
Fiery darts in flaming volleys flew. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe.
--Byron.
[1913 Webster]
2. A burst or emission of many things at once; as, a volley
of words. "This volley of oaths." --B. Jonson.
[1913 Webster]
Rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
3.
(a) (Tennis) A return of the ball before it touches the
ground.
(b) (Cricket) A sending of the ball full to the top of the
wicket.
[1913 Webster]
[1913 Webster]
Half volley.
(a) (Tennis) A return of the ball immediately after is has
touched the ground.
(b) (Cricket) A sending of the ball so that after touching
the ground it flies towards the top of the wicket.
--R. A. Proctor.
On the volley, at random. [Obs.] "What we spake on the
volley begins work." --Massinger.
Volley gun, a gun with several barrels for firing a number
of shots simultaneously; a kind of mitrailleuse.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
volley
n 1: rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms; "our fusillade
from the left flank caught them by surprise" [syn:
fusillade, salvo, volley, burst]
2: a tennis return made by hitting the ball before it bounces
[ant: ground stroke]
v 1: be dispersed in a volley; "gun shots volleyed at the
attackers"
2: hit before it touches the ground; "volley the tennis ball"
3: discharge in, or as if in, a volley; "the attackers volleyed
gunshots at the civilians"
4: make a volley
5: utter rapidly; "volley a string of curses"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
68 Moby Thesaurus words for "volley":
antiaircraft barrage, arrow, arrowhead, badinage, bang, bantering,
barb, bark, barrage, blast, bobtailed arrow, bolt, bombardment,
bowshot, box barrage, broadside, bullet, burst, cannon, cannonade,
cannonry, chested arrow, cloth yard shaft, crack, creeping barrage,
crossfire, dart, deluge, detonation, discharge, drumfire, ejection,
emergency barrage, enfilade, exchange, explosion, flight, flood,
fulmination, fusillade, give and take, gun, gunfire, gunshot, hail,
interaction, inundation, mortar barrage, normal barrage, outbreak,
outpouring, pop, potshot, quarrel, reciprocity, reed, salvo, shaft,
shot, shower, spray, standing barrage, stoneshot, storm, tattoo,
to-and-fro, torrent, volleying