volley

1 of 2

noun

vol·​ley ˈvä-lē How to pronounce volley (audio)
plural volleys
1
a(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
b
: a flight of missiles (such as arrows)
c
: simultaneous discharge of a number of missile weapons
d
: one round per gun in a battery fired as soon as a gun is ready without regard to order
2
a
: a burst or emission of many things or a large amount at once
received a volley of angry letters
b
: a burst of simultaneous or immediately sequential nerve impulses passing to an end organ, synapse, or center

volley

2 of 2

verb

volleyed; volleying

transitive verb

1
: to propel (an object) while in the air and before touching the ground
especially : to hit (a tennis ball) on the volley
2
: to discharge in or as if in a volley

intransitive verb

1
: to make a volley
specifically : to volley an object of play (as in tennis)
2
: to become discharged in or as if in a volley
volleyer noun

Examples of volley in a Sentence

Noun The tank was hit by a volley of bullets. She was overwhelmed by a volley of questions from the press. Verb She volleyed the shot over the net.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Melichar-Martinez and Perez took a 5-0 lead in the first set, and won the all-important fifth game of the second set when Melichar-Martinez smashed a volley at the net on the deciding point. Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2024 Russian artillery unleash deadly volleys from safe positions beyond the range of Kyiv’s troops. Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2024 Prosecutors and his defense team traded volleys during the all-day — at times sobering and tearful — hearing with yet another person’s life on the line: Creech’s. Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 15 Feb. 2024 And this year, Wes Anderson fired off a volley of stylish and offbeat shorts for Netflix NFLX +2.4%, all built around writer Roald Dahl’s dark fables. David Bloom, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 Former shooting guard David Singleton got a sense of the verbal volleys to come in his first meeting with Cronin in the spring of 2019, not long after the coach had taken the UCLA job. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024 The volley of gunshots rang out shortly after Chiefs players and staffers had given speeches to a crowd of thousands of people at Kansas City’s Union Station. Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2024 The exchanges followed volleys from both sides on Sunday, part of a near-daily tit-for-tat that has killed more than 100 Hezbollah fighters and six Israeli soldiers. Carrie Keller-Lynn and Dion Nissenbaum, WSJ, 11 Dec. 2023 Besides Sandra, who practically dove into the audience to return a volley, who impressed you most out on the court? JESSE PALMER: I was blown away by Ellen. EW.com, 20 Oct. 2023
Verb
The judges hearing Wednesday’s arguments volleyed between skepticism and sympathy for Aidala and his counterpart from the district attorney’s office, appellate chief, Steven Wu. Michael R. Sisak, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2024 After a tying goal from Argentina was erased by an offside call, Shaw doubled the lead, volleying home a Rose Lavelle cross from the center of the box in the 17th minute. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2024 Google Google and Sonos have been volleying patent infringement lawsuits back and forth for a few years now. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 11 Oct. 2023 On the resulting free kick, Costa drove a low, left-footed shot into the box that Chicago’s Carlos Terán headed down, but the ball took one bounce to Boyd, who volleyed it in with a sweeping left-footed shot for this third goal in his last four MLS games. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2023 Still, every time Medvedev might have gained an edge, Djokovic was there—taking advantage of Medvedev’s open court by serving and volleying, or otherwise pressing forward to win the crucial points. Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023 Access to the channels remains disabled for millions of Spectrum subscribers, as Disney and Charter Communications volley public statements blaming the other for the impasse. Max Zahn, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2023 Spectators can watch the finals from the ship, and even win a chance to volley with Sharapova herself. Gillian Telling, Peoplemag, 28 Aug. 2023 Worse, most eating disorder specialists are monolingual English speakers, meaning family therapy sessions — the gold standard for anorexia nervosa — are eaten up by an interpreter volleying information back and forth to her parents in Spanish. Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'volley.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French volee flight, from voler to fly, from Old French, from Latin volare

First Known Use

Noun

1573, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Verb

1591, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of volley was in 1573

Dictionary Entries Near volley

Cite this Entry

“Volley.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/volley. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

volley

1 of 2 noun
vol·​ley ˈväl-ē How to pronounce volley (audio)
plural volleys
1
: a group of missiles (as arrows or bullets) passing through the air
2
: a firing of a number of weapons (as rifles) at the same time
3
: a bursting forth of many things at once
a volley of praise
4
: the act of volleying

volley

2 of 2 verb
volleyed; volleying
1
: to shoot in a volley
2
: to hit an object (as a ball) while it is in the air before it touches the ground

Medical Definition

volley

noun
vol·​ley ˈväl-ē How to pronounce volley (audio)
plural volleys
: a burst of simultaneous or immediately sequential nerve impulses passing to an end organ, synapse, or center

More from Merriam-Webster on volley

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