Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To bring together or into order again by urgent effort; urge or bring to reunion for joint action; hence, to draw or call together in general for a common purpose: as, to rally a disorganized army; to rally voters to the polls.
  • To call up or together, unite, draw, gather up, concentrate, etc., energetically.
  • To come together or into order again with haste or ardor; reunite energetically; hence, to gather or become conjoined for a common and; cohere for aid or support.
  • To come into renewed energy or action; acquire new or renewed strength or vigor; undergo restoration or recovery, either partial or complete: as, the market rallied from its depression; the patient rallied about midnight.
  • To attack with raillery; treat with jocose, satirical, or sarcastic pleasantry; make merry with in regard to something; poke fun at; quiz.
  • Synonyms Banter, etc. (see banter), joke, quiz, tease.
  • To use pleasantry or satirical merriment.
  • noun A rapid or ardent reunion for effort of any kind; a renewal of energy in joint action; a quick recovery from disorder or dispersion, as of a body of troops or other persons.
  • noun Theat., specifically, the general scramble or chase of all the players in a pantomime; a mêlée of pantomimists, as at the end of a transformation scene.
  • noun In lawn-tennis, the return of the ball over the net from one side to the other for a number of times consecutively.
  • noun A quick recovery from a state of depression or exhaustion; renewal of energy or of vigorous action; return to or toward the prior or normal condition, as in disease, trade, active exertion of any kind, etc.: as, a rally in the course of a disease; a rally in prices.
  • noun An exercise of good humor or satirical merriment.
  • In boxing, to attack vigorously.
  • In sporting, to parry.
  • noun In electioneering, a mass-meeting of a political party: as, a Republican rally was held in the town hall.
  • noun The military signal for rallying: as, to sound the rally.

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

  • transitive verb To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite.
  • noun The act or process of rallying (in any of the senses of that word).
  • noun Colloq. U. S. A political mass meeting.
  • intransitive verb To come into orderly arrangement; to renew order, or united effort, as troops scattered or put to flight; to assemble; to unite.
  • intransitive verb To collect one's vital powers or forces; to regain health or consciousness; to recuperate.
  • intransitive verb To recover strength after a decline in prices; -- said of the market, stocks, etc.
  • intransitive verb To use pleasantry, or satirical merriment.
  • transitive verb To attack with raillery, either in good humor and pleasantry, or with slight contempt or satire.
  • noun Good-humored raillery.

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

  • verb To tease; to chaff good-humouredly.
  • noun Good-humoured raillery.
  • noun A demonstration; an event where people gather together to protest for or against a given cause
  • noun , table tennis, tennis, badminton) A sequence of strokes between serving and scoring a point.
  • noun motor racing An event in which competitors drive through a series of timed special stages at intervals. The winner is the driver who completes all stages with the shortest cumulative time.
  • noun business, trading A recovery after a decline in prices; -- said of the market, stocks, etc.
  • verb To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite.
  • verb To come into orderly arrangement; to renew order, or united effort, as troops scattered or put to flight; to assemble; to unite.
  • verb To collect one's vital powers or forces; to regain health or consciousness; to recuperate.
  • verb business, trading To recover strength after a decline in prices; -- said of the market, stocks, etc.

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

  • noun a marked recovery of strength or spirits during an illness
  • verb gather or bring together
  • verb return to a former condition
  • verb harass with persistent criticism or carping
  • noun a large gathering of people intended to arouse enthusiasm
  • noun the feat of mustering strength for a renewed effort
  • verb call to arms; of military personnel
  • noun an automobile race run over public roads
  • noun (sports) an unbroken sequence of several successive strokes
  • verb gather

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French railler. See rail ("to scoff").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French ralier (French rallier), from Latin prefix re- + ad + ligare ("to bind; to ally").

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Clear therefore thy Head, and Rally and Manage thy Thoughts Rightly, and thou wilt Save Time, and See and Do thy Business Well; for thy Judgment will be Distinct, thy Mind Free, and the Faculties Strong and Regular."

    - William Penn, 'Fruits of Solitude'.

    September 8, 2009