Volley | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Vŏl'ley, n.

noun

n.; pl. VŎL'LEYS. [Fr. volée, a flight, a volley or discharge of several guns, from voler, to fly, Pr. & O. Sp. volada, It. volata. Cf. VOLÉE.] 1. A flight of shot; the discharge of many small arms at once. Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe. Byron. 2. A burst or emission of many things at once; as, a volley of words. Fiery darts in flaming volleys flew. Milton. Rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks. Pope. On the volley, at random. [Obs.] “What we spake on the volley begins to work.” Massinger.

Vŏl'ley, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. VOLLEYED; p. pr. & vb. n. VOLLEYING.] To discharge with a volley.

Vŏl'ley, v. i.

verbintransitive

To be thrown out or discharged at once; to be discharged in a volley, or as if in a volley; making a volley or volleys. “Volleying discharges, peal after peal.” De Quincey.

Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volleyed and thundered. Tennyson.