Volley

volley
    n 1: rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms; "our fusillade
         from the left flank caught them by surprise" [syn:
         {fusillade}, {salvo}, {volley}, {burst}]
    2: a tennis return made by hitting the ball before it bounces
       [ant: {ground stroke}]
    v 1: be dispersed in a volley; "gun shots volleyed at the
         attackers"
    2: hit before it touches the ground; "volley the tennis ball"
    3: discharge in, or as if in, a volley; "the attackers volleyed
       gunshots at the civilians"
    4: make a volley
    5: utter rapidly; "volley a string of curses"
    

Volley \Vol"ley\, v. i.
   1. To be thrown out, or discharged, at once; to be discharged
      in a volley, or as if in a volley; to make a volley or
      volleys. --Tennyson.
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   2.
      (a) (Tennis) To return the ball before it touches the
          ground.
      (b)
      (Cricket) To send the ball full to the top of the wicket.
                --R. A. Proctor.
                [1913 Webster]
    

Volley \Vol"ley\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Volleyed}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Volleying}.]
   To discharge with, or as with, a volley.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Volley \Vol"ley\, n.; pl. {Volleys}. [F. vol['e]e; flight, a
   volley, or discharge of several guns, fr. voler to fly, L.
   volare. See {Volatile}.]
   1. A flight of missiles, as arrows, bullets, or the like; the
      simultaneous discharge of a number of small arms.
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            Fiery darts in flaming volleys flew.  --Milton.
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            Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe.
                                                  --Byron.
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   2. A burst or emission of many things at once; as, a volley
      of words. "This volley of oaths." --B. Jonson.
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            Rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks. --Pope.
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   3.
      (a) (Tennis) A return of the ball before it touches the
          ground.
      (b) (Cricket) A sending of the ball full to the top of the
          wicket.
          [1913 Webster]
          [1913 Webster]

   {Half volley}.
      (a) (Tennis) A return of the ball immediately after is has
          touched the ground.
      (b) (Cricket) A sending of the ball so that after touching
          the ground it flies towards the top of the wicket.
          --R. A. Proctor.

   {On the volley}, at random. [Obs.] "What we spake on the
      volley begins work." --Massinger.

   {Volley gun}, a gun with several barrels for firing a number
      of shots simultaneously; a kind of mitrailleuse.
      [1913 Webster]
    

68 Moby Thesaurus words for "volley":
      antiaircraft barrage, arrow, arrowhead, badinage, bang, bantering,
      barb, bark, barrage, blast, bobtailed arrow, bolt, bombardment,
      bowshot, box barrage, broadside, bullet, burst, cannon, cannonade,
      cannonry, chested arrow, cloth yard shaft, crack, creeping barrage,
      crossfire, dart, deluge, detonation, discharge, drumfire, ejection,
      emergency barrage, enfilade, exchange, explosion, flight, flood,
      fulmination, fusillade, give and take, gun, gunfire, gunshot, hail,
      interaction, inundation, mortar barrage, normal barrage, outbreak,
      outpouring, pop, potshot, quarrel, reciprocity, reed, salvo, shaft,
      shot, shower, spray, standing barrage, stoneshot, storm, tattoo,
      to-and-fro, torrent, volleying