volley
pronunciation
How to pronounce volley in British English:
UK [ˈvɒli]
How to pronounce volley in American English:
US [ˈvɑli]
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- Noun:
- rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
- a tennis return made by hitting the ball before it bounces
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- Verb:
- be dispersed in a volley
- hit before it touches the ground
- discharge in, or as if in, a volley
- make a volley
- utter rapidly
Word Origin
- volley
- volley: [16] A volley is etymologically a ‘flight’ of something, such as missiles. The word comes via Old French volee from Vulgar Latin *volāta ‘flight’, which was a noun use of the feminine past participle of Latin volāre ‘fly’ (source also of English volatile [17]). The origins of this are not certain, although it may be distantly related to Sanskrit garutmant- ‘bird’. The use of volley as a sporting term for a ‘shot hit before the ball bounces’ dates from the 19th century.=> volatile
- volley (n.)
- 1570s, "discharge of a number of guns at once," from Middle French volee "flight" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *volta, fem. noun from Latin volatum, past participle of volare "to fly" (see volant). Sporting sense of "a return of the ball before it hits the ground" (originally in tennis) is from 1851, from notion of hitting the ball in flight.
- volley (v.)
- 1590s, "discharge in a volley," from volley (n.). Sporting sense (originally in tennis) of "to return the ball before it has hit the ground" is from 1819. Related: Volleyed; volleying.
Example
- 1. Learn basic skill of volley and overhead smash .
- 2. She returned the ball on the volley .
- 3. I was a volley flying swallow .
- 4. She got a running start just as the soldiers sent another volley of razor-sharp decks .
- 5. The volley killed twelve americans .