Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An exception; a reservation; an excuse; a saving fact or clause.
  • noun A general discharge of guns intended as a salute.
  • noun A concentrated fire from a greater or less number of pieces of artillery, for the purpose of breaching, etc., the simultaneous concussion of a number of cannon-balls on masonry, or even earthwork, producing a very destructive effect.
  • noun The combined shouts or cheers of a multitude, generally expressive of honor, esteem, admiration, etc.: as, salvos of applause.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An exception; a reservation; an excuse.
  • noun (Mil.) A concentrated fire from pieces of artillery, as in endeavoring to make a break in a fortification; a volley.
  • noun A salute paid by a simultaneous, or nearly simultaneous, firing of a number of cannon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun military A concentrated fire from pieces of artillery, as in endeavoring to make a break in a fortification; a volley.
  • noun By extension, any volley, as in an argument or debate.
  • noun A salute paid by a simultaneous, or nearly simultaneous, firing of a number of cannon.
  • noun An exception; a reservation; an excuse.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
  • noun a sudden outburst of cheers
  • noun an outburst resembling the discharge of firearms or the release of bombs

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A 1719 alteration of salva (1591) "simultaneous discharge of guns," from Latin salva ("salute, volley") (compare salve, also from Italian), from Latin salve ("hail"), imperative of salvere: "be in good health!," the usual Roman greeting, regarded as imperative of salvere "to be in good health,"

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin salvo, ablative of salvus, the past participle of salvāre ("to save, to reserve"), either from salvo jure literally 'the right being reserved', or from salvo errore et omissone 'reserving error and omission'.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Archaic: a bad excuse, evasion, quibble.

    December 19, 2007

  • There never was a rogue, who had not a salvo to himself for being so.

    Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

    December 19, 2007