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No opening salvo here: salvo in phrases like “an opening salvo” is a kind of attack, especially one that is strong or sudden. Usually, such salvos are verbal attacks, like a critical remark aimed at a debate opponent, or a pointed accusation at the start of an editorial. But salvo can also refer to attacks of a more perilous kind, including various martial actions involving bombs, rockets, and artillery. (It can also refer to the bombs or projectiles released in a salvo.) The word arrived from Italian in the late 16th century with a complex meaning: it referred to a simultaneous discharge of two or more guns, either in military action or as a salute. The word's ultimate source is the Latin word salve, meaning “hail!,” which was an ancient Roman greeting. In English, salvo is also sometimes used for a sudden occurrence of applause, laughter, etc., from many people, which sounds to us like the best kind of all.
Examples of salvo in a Sentence
Chris Klimek, Vulture, 9 Feb. 2024
Alain Sherter, CBS News, 9 Apr. 2025
But with less than a month left before the vote, Mr. Poilievre will need all of his skills in a race that has been turned upside down by once-unimaginable events: threats to annex Canada from an American president who launched a trade war as a first salvo.
—Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for salvo
Cite this Entry
“Salvo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/salvo. Accessed 28 Apr. 2025.
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