volley

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A simultaneous discharge of a number of bullets or other projectiles.
• noun The bullets or projectiles so discharged.
• noun A group of remarks, expressions, or actions directed toward a certain recipient or audience.
• noun An exchange of strokes in a court game, such as volleyball, ending when one side fails to make a good return and resulting in a point or the loss of service.
• noun A stroke, kick, or other strike of the ball made before the ball touches the ground.
• noun The flight of a ball before it touches the ground.
• intransitive verb To discharge (projectiles) in a volley.
• intransitive verb Sports To strike (a tennis ball, for example) before it touches the ground.
• intransitive verb To direct or send in a mass or series.
• intransitive verb To be discharged in a volley.
• intransitive verb Sports To make a volley, especially in tennis.
• intransitive verb To move or be directed rapidly, forcefully, or loudly in a mass or series.

from The Century Dictionary.

• In cricket, of the bowler: To bowl a ball which reaches the batsman before pitching.
• To bowl a full-pitch.
• noun In cricket: A full-pitch.
• noun A ball so bowled as to reach the batsman without touching the ground.
• noun In mining, the ignition and explosion of several blasts in the rock at one time, or of groups of such blasts in sections.
• noun The flight of a number of missile weapons together; hence, the discharge simultaneously, or nearly so, of a number of missile weapons.
• noun Hence, a noisy or explosive burst or emission of many things at once.
• noun In lawn-tennis and tennis, a return of the ball by the racket before it touches the ground, especially a swift, return.
• To discharge in a volley, or as if in a volley: often with out. Compare volleyed.
• In lawn-tennis and tennis, to return on the fly: said of the ball: drive (the ball) with the racket before it strikes the ground.
• To fly together, as missiles; hence, to issue or be discharged in large number or quantity.
• To sound together, or in continuous or repeated explosions, as firearms.
• In lawn-tennis and tennis, to return the ball before it touches the ground, especially by a swift stroke: as, he volleys well.

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

• transitive verb To discharge with, or as with, a volley.
• intransitive verb 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.
• intransitive verb (Tennis) To return the ball before it touches the ground.
• intransitive verb To send the ball full to the top of the wicket.
• noun A flight of missiles, as arrows, bullets, or the like; the simultaneous discharge of a number of small arms.
• noun A burst or emission of many things at once.
• noun (Tennis) A return of the ball before it touches the ground.
• noun (Cricket) A sending of the ball full to the top of the wicket.
• noun (Tennis), (Cricket) A sending of the ball so that after touching the ground it flies towards the top of the wicket.
• noun [Obs.] at random.
• noun a gun with several barrels for firing a number of shots simultaneously; a kind of mitrailleuse.

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

• noun The simultaneous firing of a number of missiles or bullets; the projectiles so fired
• noun sports The flight of a ball just before it bounces
• noun sports A shot in which the ball is played before it hits the ground
• verb transitive To fire a volley of shots
• verb sports, transitive To hit the ball before it touches the ground
• verb intransitive To be fired in a volley
• verb sports, intransitive To make a volley

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

• verb utter rapidly
• verb discharge in, or as if in, a volley