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volley
in a sentence
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  • Hostilities began with an incoming volley of arrows.
  • The suggestion was met with a volley of criticism.
  • I tensed myself for the volley of blows that I knew was coming, but nothing happened.   (source)
    volley = a rapid series
  • Now the fire was nearer; those volleying shots were great limbs, trunks even, bursting.   (source)
    volleying = rapidly following one another
  • Then rifle fire split the air. Around us women began to weep. A second volley. A third. For two hours the executions went on.   (source)
    volley = a simultaneous discharge of bullets
  • At that moment there was a volley of gunfire.   (source)
    volley = a rapid or simultaneous discharge of bullets or other projectiles
  • The wind rushes through the trees and releases a new volley of rain. have a feeling that we have something in common, you and me.   (source)
    volley = a rapid or simultaneous discharge of projectiles
  • When they got to the top, a massive volley of fire tore up the ground around them.   (source)
    volley = a rapid discharge of bullets
  • The Squirrels bombarded him with volleys of nuts but he only covered his head with his hands and tried to keep out of the way.   (source)
    volleys = a rapid or simultaneous discharge of projectiles
  • …warm rains, when all the hills and valleys smoked; the beautiful misty mornings when nobody knew where they would ...and the mad rush and blaze and hullabaloo of the last night's drive, when the elephants poured into the stockade like boulders in a landslide, found that they could not get out, and flung themselves at the heavy posts only to be driven back by yells and flaring torches and volleys of blank cartridge.   (source)
    volleys = rapid or simultaneous firing
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show 89 more with this conextual meaning
  • And here, since he had so valiantly forborne all other wickedness, poor Mr. Dimmesdale longed at least to shake hands with the tarry black-guard, and recreate himself with a few improper jests, such as dissolute sailors so abound with, and a volley of good, round, solid, satisfactory, and heaven-defying oaths!   (source)
    volley = a rapid series
  • "Write home for another one," Harry suggested as the wand let off a volley of bangs like a firecracker.†   (source)
  • "Abide with Me" was sung, then "Last Post" was played, a little shakily, by a bugler from the Scouts band, followed by two minutes of silence and a rifle volley fired by the .†   (source)
  • There came a brief volley of barks, then silence.†   (source)
  • With a terrific volley of barking, the dogs leapt to the extent of their leashes, tugging their mistress from the front desk as the ledger pen clattered to the floor.†   (source)
  • Suddenly a volley of shots rang out.†   (source)
  • , Once freed, he got to his feet and stretched out his muscles, refusing to acknowledge the second volley of questions flung his way.†   (source)
  • The soldiers fire a volley of bullets at me.†   (source)
  • We volley a bit back and forth.†   (source)
  • The anti-air guns unleash another volley.†   (source)
  • He bent down and kissed the top of her head as the guns roared, a loud volley that drowned out birdsong and wind and screams.†   (source)
  • Just as Piper cut her father free and caught him in her arms, the giants launched their second volley of stones.†   (source)
  • As they resumed their descent, a volley of grapefruit-sized stones came whizzing down from the upper mountain and one of them struck a Sherpa on the back of the head.†   (source)
  • The echoes of the volley were quickly snuffed out by the moist air.†   (source)
  • The mallet came down against the door in a volley of booming blows that made her flinch and step back.†   (source)
  • A chorus of clinks sounded as a second volley of arrows bounced off her scales.†   (source)
  • There was a great flash from the pirate ship's underbelly, and a thunderous volley of cannon fire scorched the night sky across our bow.†   (source)
  • The melee broke up the rhythm of the attack and, by the time the French had regained their initiative, Henry's own men-at-arms had braced to hold them at pike length while Kassad and several thousand other archers poured volley fire into the massed French infantry at close range.†   (source)
  • Volley'd and thunder'd ....†   (source)
  • I was the only one they could see, and I heard a volley of bullets screaming around me.†   (source)
  • A volley of gunfire came toward him.†   (source)
  • Elinor had to get her shoes on first, and when the man with the goatee tried hauling her roughly out because she didn't move fast enough for him, she pushed his hands away and fired a volley of bad language at him.†   (source)
  • When it was time to sail, the men in the family saluted the schooner with a volley of shots fired into the air, and Lorenzo Daza responded from the deck with five shots from his revolver.†   (source)
  • The fire threw a volley of sparks into the sky, and they shivered and danced, making shapes that were almost decipherable.†   (source)
  • Its defenders, wielding rifles, killed all but twenty-nine with their opening volley; the survivors committed suicide on the battlefield, including Kabuo's great-grandfather.†   (source)
  • The crash of scraping metal was followed immediately by a volley of Spanish hurled at me from all directions.†   (source)
  • The ranch hand waited until his quarry had reached the door, then fired a farewell volley: "If you ever run for sheriff again, just forget my vote.†   (source)
  • I want to tackle her in a hug, but instead I drop to the floor as a volley of razor-edged throwing stars hurtles through the space where my neck was.†   (source)
  • As practices progressed, Luma would add a new twist at the end of the routine—a drill in which she fed balls to shooters, who were expected to volley the ball before it touched the ground, for example, or a new passing combination.†   (source)
  • And then, because, let's face it, I'm basically an Olympic god when it comes to sports, I manage to volley the ball right into your face.†   (source)
  • Then, after tossing the ball in the air and serving hard, he raced toward the side of the court to keep the volley going.†   (source)
  • Finally a volley of rifle shots was fired into him.†   (source)
  • Dad fired the next volley three weeks later.†   (source)
  • "Not at all, Felicity," I volley back.†   (source)
  • The three-round volley from the honor guard's rifles got the cows mooing, making Austin smile.†   (source)
  • A volley of rain hit the French windows.†   (source)
  • No one's taking our hostage companero anywhere," one of the peasants said, and in order to emphasize the words they sent the would-be rescuers packing with a short volley fired into the air.†   (source)
  • I thought he cried, and the second volley of shots from the bridge sounded, but this time they sounded like a great whirling of wings, like pigeons swirling to roost on the church top.†   (source)
  • Koochooloo turned rabid, unleashing a volley of deafening yelps.†   (source)
  • I waited for the first volley of venom.†   (source)
  • He was lost, lost in reverie until the crack of the first rifle sounded, then the almost fatal volley that creased his skull-oh my!†   (source)
  • After one blinding volley during the third assault, he had been the only man in the front line still standing.†   (source)
  • A volley of testy horn blasts behind her had her whipping over to the edge of Tenth and blocking the turning lane.†   (source)
  • A staccato volley of automatic gunfire burst from the shadows of the tunnel's parking area cutting the Russian down, his instantly limp, punctured body collapsing and falling off the roof of the gatehouse, plummeting to the ground out of sight at the rear.†   (source)
  • One volley was all it took.†   (source)
  • After my volley of fire, Jon raced over beside me.†   (source)
  • "Stress training," Max replied, watching the group loose another perfect volley.†   (source)
  • The Corps greeted them with a volley of boos and hisses that reverberated across the campus.†   (source)
  • The knights unleashed another volley of arrows.†   (source)
  • However, his opening volley was aimed squarely at the actions of his opposition.†   (source)
  • The first volley pushed Guariglia over and made Alessandro sink to his knees.†   (source)
  • Three weeks later a Confederate counterattack on his sector of the Petersburg lines gave him his chance: "We let them get within 3 rods of us & then we jumped up & gave them a volley."†   (source)
  • Then a small volley, a spattering.†   (source)
  • Back at the cabin we again tried to cool his ardor by firing a volley in the air, but this had no effect except to make him withdraw a few yards farther off.†   (source)
  • "They don't volley at all, unless they outnumber you," said La Fayette.†   (source)
  • It seemed like hours, but must have been less, before my fears began to materialize and the first volley of arrows descended.†   (source)
  • He was running into a regular volley of them and meeting them with quick curses.†   (source)
  • A volley of twenty shots, discharged at some inaudible command caught only by the riflemen, mowed down half the condemned men, killing most of them outright.†   (source)
  • His hands had to be seriously burned from blocking the first volley.†   (source)
  • Desjardins hurled another volley of stones.†   (source)
  • The dogs in the back runs let out a volley of barks.†   (source)
  • I wasn't sure it would even stop a second volley.†   (source)
  • Saphira roared with pain as she was struck and quickly rolled to the left to avoid the next volley.†   (source)
  • A volley of sparks engulfs the infected woman.†   (source)
  • I uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air.†   (source)
  • A volley of blows sounded on my iron door.†   (source)
  • We are a volley of bullets, sing the newest cadets, we are cannonballs.†   (source)
  • Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia, and this time I could see how he did it.†   (source)
  • We are a volley of bullets, we are cannonballs.†   (source)
  • From the back runs a volley of barks rose then quieted.†   (source)
  • Zoe yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the armpit chink in Atlas's armor.†   (source)
  • He stepped forward …. and that was when Cujo's roar, followed by a volley of snarling barks came.†   (source)
  • Frank dove for cover as a volley of rocks slammed overhead.†   (source)
  • We dodged a volley of fiery tar balls from the balcony catapults.†   (source)
  • A line of archers on the battlements of the castle keep let fly a volley of arrows at Saphira.†   (source)
  • As soon as she said it, the Argo II launched a second volley.†   (source)
  • He missed one arrow, though, which was fired a few seconds after the first volley.†   (source)
  • Another volley of arrows followed close upon the last.†   (source)
  • Biting my tongue, I readied myself for the next volley.†   (source)
  • Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire.†   (source)
  • The men coming up the hill stopped to volley; weak fire came in return.†   (source)
  • "They can't volley properly, rifles are so slow to load," said Bonaparte.†   (source)
  • Our archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.†   (source)
  • The onagers had shot their first volley.†   (source)
  • Thoughts and ideas volley back and forth in my head.†   (source)
  • The guards unleash a volley of punches to my stomach, and I drop to my knees.†   (source)
  • The volley whistled over his head and exploded into the water about ten yards ahead of him.†   (source)
  • After each volley, one of the white-men would turn to the pens and say some words.†   (source)
  • The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy.†   (source)
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show 1 more with this conextual meaning
  • The volley in volleyball, means the ball can't touch the ground.
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  • She won the set on a back-hand volley.
    volley = a tennis stroke in which a player hits the ball before it bounces
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show 10 more examples with any meaning
  • Perhaps the most surprising thing I discovered was that through the stories we volleyed back and forth in letters and over the metal divider of the prison's visiting room, Wes and I had indeed, as Wideman wrote, "collapsed the distance" between our worlds.†   (source)
  • The cheers from across the gym were like volleys of arrows piercing our grand delusion.†   (source)
  • Some of the senior boys, sixteen— and seventeen-year-olds, cadets who are allowed freer access to ammunition, develop a fondness for firing volleys into the trees to see how many birds they can hit.†   (source)
  • He and Newt started launching grenades like crazy, volleying them all along the open area in front of their waiting Berg.†   (source)
  • And so they volleyed Szpirglas among themselves, tearing at him and feeding off him as he fell.†   (source)
  • Firing on command, his line of archers got off five flat volleys at the attacking horsemen, managed one more shot in independent fire, and then they fell back five paces.†   (source)
  • It came in prolonged volleys, and I listened carefully.†   (source)
  • I've switched him to decal," Mom volleys back.†   (source)
  • Bien paused to let defense commit, then flicked a crisp pass to Idwar, who volleyed it into the net.†   (source)
  • The sloops were faster than theDragon Wing, weighed down with villagers as it was, and had quickly gained upon the merchant ship until they were close enough to exchange volleys of arrows.†   (source)
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show 54 more examples with any meaning
  • You've found the silver mine!" he volleyed excitedly.†   (source)
  • Will tossed the ball from one hand to the other as he and Scott stood in the sand, still sweating from the final volleys.†   (source)
  • Earthborn threw volleys of stones that plowed into the zombie legionnaires, crushing them like paper.†   (source)
  • Nick sat reading a magazine with the hollow knocks volleying back from the far wall, across eight lanes.†   (source)
  • The honor guard fired three volleys.†   (source)
  • A local newspaper correspondent wrote that the "volleys of shots echoed and reechoed.†   (source)
  • With a pair of loud cracks he volleyed two more bullets over our heads, just to drive his point home.†   (source)
  • The roar of cannon and of volleys of musketry could be heard plainly in Philadelphia.†   (source)
  • The ensuing arrows flew with considerably less uniformity and precision than previous volleys.†   (source)
  • Too many conflicts, volleying inside my head, bouncing off the interior of my skull.†   (source)
  • I will bear whatever sentence they wish to rain on me, all the volleys of their prayers and curses.†   (source)
  • The landscape itself appeared in repetitive volleys of deep color, stopped now and then at a whitened rapids or a dark chasm.†   (source)
  • Regis watched the spectacle as the opposing sides volleyed back and forth, but the halfling's own credibility had been destroyed, and he had no impact on the rest of the meeting.†   (source)
  • Now volleys of laughter exploded across the lawn.†   (source)
  • During the lulls between cannon volleys, Miller could hear men crying.†   (source)
  • Without warning red and white beeves were volleyed across the sidewalk on hooks, out of a van.†   (source)
  • 762mm, that's what the stolen Russian Kalash-nikovs fire at us, usually in deadly, heavy volleys.†   (source)
  • If you play someone crappy, you end up missing shots or serving all sloppy, but if you play with an ace player, suddenly you're all at the net, lobbing good volleys.†   (source)
  • The four of them fired volleys at her.†   (source)
  • Bien floated the ball toward the center of the field, but a Blue Springs player volleyed it back toward him and out of bounds.†   (source)
  • The only good thing, she says later, is that he finally steps down from the microphones before the volleys of questions about that morning's still unconfirmed news, which is that Eduardo Fermin was renting his own apartment in Manhattan.†   (source)
  • The wind that coursed through the pines made their supple branches paint the deep blue sky behind them, and just beyond the first line of markers three riflemen were firing volleys in the air.†   (source)
  • Though shells were falling, the tubes were out of sight, and our men, even while mounted, were able to suppress the spotters (who were in a church tower) with just a few volleys from their rifles.†   (source)
  • When the defense converged, Mandela flicked the ball to Sebajden, a wiry but tenacious Kosovar midfielder, who volleyed the shot: goal.†   (source)
  • This stronghold was never threatened until the closing days of the war, when the Volunteers, ambuscaded behind convenient trees and rocks, fired three volleys into a detachment of Sherman's stragglers, and quietly dispersed to the defense of their attendant wives and children.†   (source)
  • Stormed at by shot and shell, boldly we rode and well, flashed through the valley of death, volleyed and thundered—straight into Lily Briscoe and William Bankes.†   (source)
  • He patted the water, and the reflected light capsized and leaped and volleyed.†   (source)
  • Applause, and a round of "wunderschoning" and pracht volleying from the German contingent.†   (source)
  • The volleys directed against them had had a seeming windlike effect.†   (source)
  • Their war-cry pealed to a shrill pitch and ceased; and following that the rattling volleys fell off.†   (source)
  • CHAPTER XXIX I COME INTO MY KINGDOM For some time Alan volleyed upon the door, and his knocking only roused the echoes of the house and neighbourhood.†   (source)
  • Then followed a confusion of kicks, cuffs, tramplings and plungings, accompanied by a thunderous intermingling of volleyed curses, and finally a bitter apostrophe to the mule, which must have broken its spirit, for hostilities seemed to cease from that moment.†   (source)
  • It was dark here in front; only the bright door sent ten square feet of light volleying out into the soft black morning.†   (source)
  • In front of the mosque a shouting lot of men began firing in volleys that whipped athwart the current of the river; an irregular, rolling fusillade was opened on the boat from both banks, and Brown's men replied with a wild, rapid fire.†   (source)
  • Brogard and his wife, terrified of Chauvelin, had given no sign of life; they hoped to be forgotten, and at any rate to remain unperceived: Marguerite could not even hear their usual volleys of muttered oaths.†   (source)
  • But while it rustles to the floor, we wish to join Hans Castorp, left behind on those distant heights, as he gazes in his mind down on a wet garden of crosses in the lowlands, watches a sword flash and then lower, hears barked commands and the three volleys that follow, the three fervent rounds of honor bursting above Joachim Ziemssen's soldier's grave, thick with matted roots.†   (source)
  • And he also saw Indians ride fleet as the storm-winds under the volleys from the slope, to escape down the canyon.†   (source)
  • In the fresh morning air were now heard, not two or three musket shots at irregular intervals as before, followed by one or two cannon shots, but a roll of volleys of musketry from the slopes of the hill before Pratzen, interrupted by such frequent reports of cannon that sometimes several of them were not separated from one another but merged into a general roar.†   (source)
  • Flashing weapons, blazing torches, smoking waggonloads of wet straw, hard work at neighbouring barricades in all directions, shrieks, volleys, execrations, bravery without stint, boom smash and rattle, and the furious sounding of the living sea; but, still the deep ditch, and the single drawbridge, and the massive stone walls, and the eight great towers, and still Defarge of the wine-shop at his gun, grown doubly hot by the service of Four fierce hours.†   (source)
  • In this manner many minutes flew by with the swiftness of thought; the rifles of the assailants speaking, at times, in rattling volleys, and at others in occasional, scattering shots.†   (source)
  • The reports of the firearms became rapid, whole volleys rising from the plain, as flocks of more than ordinary numbers darted over the opening, shadowing the field like a cloud; and then the light smoke of a single piece would issue from among the leafless bushes on the mountain, as death was hurled on the retreat of the affrighted birds, who were rising from a volley, in a vain effort to escape.†   (source)
  • When the audience recognized these familiar mementos of Pudd'nhead's old time childish "puttering" and folly, the tense and funereal interest vanished out of their faces, and the house burst into volleys of relieving and refreshing laughter, and Tom chirked up and joined in the fun himself; but Wilson was apparently not disturbed.†   (source)
  • Through the volleying drifts of English, Kim caught the general trend of the talk, and it interested him very much.†   (source)
  • It was followed by the swift flashes of the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers across the rock in volleys, as though the assailants would pour out their impotent fury on the insensible scene of the fatal contest.†   (source)
  • The shudder, the stumble, the swerve ere the star-stabbing bowsprit merges— The orderly clouds of the Trades and the ridged roaring sapphire thereunder— Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws and the head-sails' low-volleying thunder?†   (source)
  • Where the hard-worked soil gives three and even four crops a year through patches of sugar-cane, tobacco, long white radishes, and nol-kol, all that day they strolled on, turning aside to every glimpse of water; rousing village dogs and sleeping villages at noonday; the lama replying to the volleyed questions with an unswerving simplicity.†   (source)
  • Volleying javelins are launched against him by strong arms, firebrands bring him to heel, for all his great elan, and heartsick he retreats at dawn.†   (source)
  • In fact, when they took ship together for Ilion, they put their faith in bows and braided sheepswool slings, with which they broke the Trojan lines by pelting volleys.†   (source)
  • Antinous volleyed back.
    "Sit there and eat in peace—or go get lost!†   (source)
  • Private Carr and Private Compton, swaggersticks tight in their oxters, as they march unsteadily rightaboutface and burst together from their mouths a volleyed fart.†   (source)
  • The cannons ope their rosy-flashing muzzles—the hurtled balls scream, The battle-front forms amid the smoke—the volleys pour incessant from the line, Hark, the ringing word Charge!†   (source)
  • …torn upon thy splinter'd staff, Or clutch'd to some young color-bearer's breast with desperate hands, Savagely struggled for, for life or death, fought over long, 'Mid cannons' thunder-crash and many a curse and groan and yell, and rifle-volleys cracking sharp, And moving masses as wild demons surging, and lives as nothing risk'd, For thy mere remnant grimed with dirt and smoke and sopp'd in blood, For sake of that, my beauty, and that thou might'st dally as now secure up there,…†   (source)
  • …of the right time, After firing I see him lean aside and look eagerly off to note the effect; Elsewhere I hear the cry of a regiment charging, (the young colonel leads himself this time with brandish'd sword,) I see the gaps cut by the enemy's volleys, (quickly fill'd up, no delay,) I breathe the suffocating smoke, then the flat clouds hover low concealing all; Now a strange lull for a few seconds, not a shot fired on either side, Then resumed the chaos louder than ever, with eager…†   (source)
  • As, when in tumults rise th' ignoble crowd, Mad are their motions, and their tongues are loud; And stones and brands in rattling volleys fly, And all the rustic arms that fury can supply: If then some grave and pious man appear, They hush their noise, and lend a list'ning ear; He soothes with sober words their angry mood, And quenches their innate desire of blood: So, when the Father of the Flood appears, And o'er the seas his sov'reign trident rears, Their fury falls: he skims the…†   (source)
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