Defn: To leap or rush out; to burst forth; to issue suddenly; as a
body of troops from a fortified place to attack besiegers; to make a
sally.
They break the truce, and sally out by night. Dryden.
The foe retires, — she heads the sallying host. Byron.
SALLY Sal"ly, n.; pl. Sallies. Etym: [F. saillie, fr. sailir. See Sally, v.]
1. A leaping forth; a darting; a spring.
2. A rushing or bursting forth; a quick issue; a sudden eruption; specifically, an issuing of troops from a place besieged to attack the besiegers; a sortie. Sallies were made by the Spaniards, but they were beaten in with loss. Bacon.
3. An excursion from the usual track; range; digression; deviation. Every one 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. Locke.
4. A flight of fancy, liveliness, wit, or the like; a flashing forth of a quick and active mind. The unaffected mirth with which she enjoyed his sallies. Sir W. Scott.
5. Transgression of the limits of soberness or steadiness; act of levity; wild gayety; frolic; escapade. The excursion was esteemed but a sally of youth. Sir H. Wotton. Sally port. (a) (Fort.) A postern gate, or a passage underground, from the inner to the outer works, to afford free egress for troops in a sortie. (b) (Naval) A large port on each quarter of a fireship, for the escape of the men into boats when the train is fired; a large port in an old-fashioned three-decker or a large modern ironclad.
SALLY LUNN Sal"ly Lunn". Etym: [From a woman, Sally Lunn, who is said to have first made the cakes, and sold them in the streets of Bath, Eng.]
Defn: A tea cake slighty sweetened, and raised with yeast, baked in the form of biscuits or in a thin loaf, and eaten hot with butter.
SALLYMAN
Sal"ly*man, n. (Zoöl.)