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.
4.an outburst or flight of passion, fancy, etc.: a sally of anger .
5.a clever, witty, or fanciful remark.
6.Carpentry . a projection, as of the end of a rafter beyond the notch by which the rafter is fitted over the wall plate.
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.
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