Main Entry:

¹vol·ley

Pronunciation:

\ˈvä-lē\

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

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 serve2 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