- volley
-
I. noun
(plural volleys)
Etymology: Middle French volee flight, from voler to fly, from Old French, from Latin volare
Date: 1573
1.
a. a flight of missiles (as arrows)
b. simultaneous discharge of a number of missile weapons
c. one round per gun in a battery fired as soon as a gun is ready without regard to order
d.
(1) the flight of the ball (as in volleyball or tennis) or its course before striking the ground; also a return of the ball before it touches the ground
(2) a kick of the ball in soccer before it rebounds
(3) the exchange of the shuttlecock in badminton following the serve
2.
a. a burst or emission of many things or a large amount at once <received a volley of angry letters> <a volley of praise> b. a burst of simultaneous or immediately sequential nerve impulses passing to an end organ, synapse, or center II. verb (volleyed; volleying) Date: 1591 transitive verb 1. to discharge in or as if in a volley 2. to propel (an object) while in the air and before touching the ground; especially to hit (a tennis ball) on the volley intransitive verb 1. to become discharged in or as if in a volley 2. to make a volley; specifically to volley an object of play (as in tennis) • volleyer noun
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.