rallied; rallying
1
a
: to muster for a common purpose
b
: to recall to order
2
a
: to arouse for action
b
: to rouse from depression or weakness
1
: to come together again to renew an effort
2
: to join in a common cause
4
: to engage in a rally
plural rallies
1
a
: a mustering of scattered forces to renew an effort
b
: a summoning up of strength or courage after weakness or dejection
c
: a recovery of price after a decline
d
: a renewed offensive
2
: a mass meeting intended to arouse group enthusiasm
3
: a series of shots interchanged between players (as in tennis) before a point is won
4
or less commonly rallye
[French rallye, from English rally entry 1]
: an automobile competition using public roads and ordinary traffic rules with the object of maintaining a specified average speed between checkpoints over a route unknown to the participants until the start of the event
Synonyms
Examples of rally in a Sentence
Noun
Supporters held a rally for the candidate.
Protesters staged an antiwar rally.
Stock prices are up after the dollar's rally yesterday.
Recent Examples on the Web
USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
That leaves gender transition, which is easily caricatured and demonized by unscrupulous politicians aiming to rally their base against a wholly imaginary crisis.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Either interest rates needed to fall or profits for companies needed to rally to make stock prices look more reasonable.
—CBS News, 10 Apr. 2024
Royals rally in 5th inning The Royals were silenced early in the game.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024
That's because oil prices have been rallying recently because of a number of factors including worsening geopolitics in the Middle East and improved global demand.
—Rafael Nam, NPR, 10 Apr. 2024
Even Iraq’s 1980 invasion of Iran worked to the fledgling theocracy’s advantage by rallying internal support for the new order in Tehran, providing the occasion to build a strong domestic defense industry, and enabling the regime to survive its infancy.
—Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024
Protesters have rallied in cities across the country, demanding that Mr. Netanyahu do more to bring the hostages home.
—Matt Stevens, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
Still, tens of thousands of primary voters continue to cast ballots against them both, underlining an issue with rallying the base that each candidate has acknowledged.
—Adam Carlson, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 2 Apr. 2024
There was a Biden rally here in New York, and there were a lot of protesters out there.
—Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024
Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Green Bay Tuesday evening — his first stop in Wisconsin since the 2024 race began.
—Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2024
But the shift has helped turn Mr. Trump’s rallies into a more aesthetically churchlike experience.
—Michael C. Bender, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
With a rally brewing in the fourth, the Giants had two runs in and two men on base with one out when Jorge Soler popped a pitch into shallow left field.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2024
This caravan is getting ready to take to the streets of Sacramento and its sprawling suburbs — a rally on wheels to get out the vote ahead of Sunday's referendum.
—Sandhya Dirks, NPR, 30 Mar. 2024
Some of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks have stumbled after spurring last year’s banner rally.
—Krystal Hur, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
Rumble’s stock dropped more than 5% to $8 after a big rally on Tuesday.
—Laura Bratton, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2023
On his own diplomatic trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in neighboring Poland on Wednesday, making his first wartime visit to a close ally that has helped rally political and military support for Kyiv.
—Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2023
Last year’s playoff game was tied after each quarter before Brendan Millon scored in the final second of the fourth quarter to rally the Eagles, who went on to beat St. Mary’s in the title game.
—Glenn Graham, Baltimore Sun, 5 Apr. 2023
Fanning anti-German sentiment offers a way for Law and Justice to deflect blame for the blocked and much-needed E.U. relief funds and to rally some of its hard-right voters in anticipation of this fall’s election, which is expected to be close.
—Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
One of my key priorities is to advance the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, the first comprehensive global plan to rally both states and non-state actors behind enhancing the resilience among our planet’s four billion people, and ensuring this is done in a just and inclusive way.
—Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2023
Calzada, 57, and Foote, 63, formed FReadom Fighters in November 2021 to rally an army of book lovers on social media and in their communities.
—Tracey Harrington McCoy, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2023
And, Rachel, so far, at least, top Republicans seem to be rallying behind Trump.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2023
Transylvania had to rally to end up on the right side of the scoreboard against the Captains, who also entered the title showdown with an undefeated record (31-0).
—Ryan Black, The Courier-Journal, 1 Apr. 2023
Verb
Not only will the Mar-a-Lago event on Friday be crucial to Johnson’s speakership, the hope is to also rally House Republicans together to portray unity after months of intra-party bickering and infighting.
—USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
That leaves gender transition, which is easily caricatured and demonized by unscrupulous politicians aiming to rally their base against a wholly imaginary crisis.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Either interest rates needed to fall or profits for companies needed to rally to make stock prices look more reasonable.
—CBS News, 10 Apr. 2024
Royals rally in 5th inning The Royals were silenced early in the game.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024
That's because oil prices have been rallying recently because of a number of factors including worsening geopolitics in the Middle East and improved global demand.
—Rafael Nam, NPR, 10 Apr. 2024
Even Iraq’s 1980 invasion of Iran worked to the fledgling theocracy’s advantage by rallying internal support for the new order in Tehran, providing the occasion to build a strong domestic defense industry, and enabling the regime to survive its infancy.
—Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024
Protesters have rallied in cities across the country, demanding that Mr. Netanyahu do more to bring the hostages home.
—Matt Stevens, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
Still, tens of thousands of primary voters continue to cast ballots against them both, underlining an issue with rallying the base that each candidate has acknowledged.
—Adam Carlson, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Noun
Outside the convention hall where Trump spoke, a crowd of a few hundred gathered after the Kent GOP organized a rally to support the former president.
—Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 2 Apr. 2024
There was a Biden rally here in New York, and there were a lot of protesters out there.
—Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024
Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Green Bay Tuesday evening — his first stop in Wisconsin since the 2024 race began.
—Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2024
But the shift has helped turn Mr. Trump’s rallies into a more aesthetically churchlike experience.
—Michael C. Bender, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
With a rally brewing in the fourth, the Giants had two runs in and two men on base with one out when Jorge Soler popped a pitch into shallow left field.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2024
This caravan is getting ready to take to the streets of Sacramento and its sprawling suburbs — a rally on wheels to get out the vote ahead of Sunday's referendum.
—Sandhya Dirks, NPR, 30 Mar. 2024
Some of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks have stumbled after spurring last year’s banner rally.
—Krystal Hur, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
Rumble’s stock dropped more than 5% to $8 after a big rally on Tuesday.
—Laura Bratton, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
Trump has used his indictment to rally Republicans, with even some of his potential Republican opponents accusing law enforcement of being weaponized against Trump.
—Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2023
On his own diplomatic trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in neighboring Poland on Wednesday, making his first wartime visit to a close ally that has helped rally political and military support for Kyiv.
—Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2023
Last year’s playoff game was tied after each quarter before Brendan Millon scored in the final second of the fourth quarter to rally the Eagles, who went on to beat St. Mary’s in the title game.
—Glenn Graham, Baltimore Sun, 5 Apr. 2023
Fanning anti-German sentiment offers a way for Law and Justice to deflect blame for the blocked and much-needed E.U. relief funds and to rally some of its hard-right voters in anticipation of this fall’s election, which is expected to be close.
—Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
One of my key priorities is to advance the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, the first comprehensive global plan to rally both states and non-state actors behind enhancing the resilience among our planet’s four billion people, and ensuring this is done in a just and inclusive way.
—Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2023
Calzada, 57, and Foote, 63, formed FReadom Fighters in November 2021 to rally an army of book lovers on social media and in their communities.
—Tracey Harrington McCoy, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2023
And, Rachel, so far, at least, top Republicans seem to be rallying behind Trump.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2023
Transylvania had to rally to end up on the right side of the scoreboard against the Captains, who also entered the title showdown with an undefeated record (31-0).
—Ryan Black, The Courier-Journal, 1 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rally.' 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
Verb (1)
French rallier, from Old French ralier, from re- + alier to unite — more at ally
Verb (2)
French railler to mock, rally — more at rail
First Known Use
Verb (1)
1599, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Noun
1646, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb (2)
1668, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing rally
Articles Related to rally
Dictionary Entries Near rally
Cite this Entry
“Rally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rally. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
rally
1 of 3 verb
ral·ly
ˈral-ē 
rallied; rallying
1
a
: to bring or come together for a common purpose
rallied to the cause
b
: to bring back to order
rallied the retreating troops
2
: to rouse from low spirits or weakness
the patient rallied
3
: to make a comeback
the team rallied in the fourth quarter
stock prices rallied at the close of trading
rally
2 of 3 noun
plural rallies
1
: the action of rallying
2
: a big meeting intended to arouse enthusiasm
3
: a series of shots hit back and forth between players (as in tennis) before a point is won
rally
3 of 3 verb
rallied; rallying
: to tease in a good-natured way
Etymology
Verb
from French rallier "to call or come together for a common purpose," from early French ralier (same meaning), from re- "again, back" and alier "to unite"
Verb
from French railler "to mock, tease," from early French railler (same meaning) — related to rail entry 4
More from Merriam-Webster on rally
Nglish: Translation of rally for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of rally for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about rally
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