An outburst resembling the discharge of firearms or the release of bombs.

Roget 937: vindication, justification, warrant; exoneration, exculpation; acquittal etc. 970; whitewashing.    extenuation; palliation, palliative; softening, mitigation.    reply, defense; recrimination etc. 938.    apology, gloss, varnish; plea etc. 617; salvo; excuse, extenuating circumstances; allowance, allowance to be made; locus paenitentiae [Lat.].    apologist, vindicator, justifier; defendant etc. 938.    justifiable charge, true bill.    v.. justify, warrant; be an excuse for etc. n.; lend a color, furnish a handle; vindicate; exculpate, disculpate^†; acquit etc. 970; clear, set right, exonerate, whitewash; clear the skirts of.    extenuate, palliate, excuse, soften, apologize, varnish, slur, gloze; put a gloss, put a good face upon; mince; gloss over, bolster up, help a lame dog over a stile.    advocate, defend, plead one's cause; stand up for, stick up for, speak up for; contend for, speak for; bear out, keep in countenance, support; plead &c., 617; say in defense; plead ignorance; confess and avoid, propugn^†, put in a good word for.    take the will for the deed, make allowance for, give credit for, do justice to; give one his due, give the Devil his due.    make good; prove the truth of, prove one's case; be justified by the event.    ... show more

Roget 883: celebration, solemnization, jubilee, commemoration, ovation, paean, triumph, jubilation, ceremony (rite) 998; holiday, fiesta, zarabanda^†, revelry, feast (amusement) 840; china anniversary, diamond anniversary, golden anniversary, silver anniversary, tin anniversary, china jubilee, diamond jubilee, golden jubilee, silver jubilee, tin jubilee, china wedding, diamond wedding, golden wedding, silver wedding, tin wedding.    triumphal arch, bonfire, salute; salvo, salvo of artillery; feu de joie [Fr.], flourish of trumpets, fanfare, colors flying, illuminations.    inauguration, installation, presentation; coronation; Lord Mayor's show; harvest-home, red-letter day; trophy etc. 733; Te Deum etc. (thanksgiving) 990 [Lat.]; fete etc. 882; holiday etc. 840; Forefathers' Day [U.S.].    ... show more

Roget 469: qualification, limitation, modification, coloring.    allowance, grains of allowance, consideration, extenuating circumstances; mitigation.    condition, proviso, prerequisite, contingency, stipulation, provision, specification, sine qua non [Lat.]; catch, string, strings attached; exemption; exception, escape clause, salvo, saving clause; discount etc. 813; restriction; fine print.    ... show more

Roget 83: nonconformity etc. 82; unconformity, disconformity; unconventionality, informality, abnormity^†, abnormality, anomaly; anomalousness etc. adj.^†; exception, peculiarity; infraction of law, breach, of law, violation of law, violation of custom, violation of usage, infringement of law, infringement of custom, infringement of usage; teratism^†, eccentricity, bizarrerie^†, oddity, je ne sais quoi [Fr.], monster, monstrosity, rarity; freak, freak of Nature, weirdo, mutant; rouser, snorter [U.S.].    individuality, idiosyncrasy, originality, mannerism.    aberration; irregularity; variety; singularity; exemption; salvo etc. (qualification) 469.    nonconformist; nondescript, character, original, nonesuch, nonsuch^†, monster, prodigy, wonder, miracle, curiosity, flying fish, black sheep, black swan, lusus naturae [Lat.], rara avis [Lat.], queer fish; mongrel, random breed; half-caste, half-blood, half-breed; metis [Lat.], crossbreed, hybrid, mule, hinny, mulatto; tertium quid [Lat.], hermaphrodite.    [Mythical animals] phoenix, chimera, hydra, sphinx, minotaur; griffin, griffon; centaur; saggittary^†; kraken, cockatrice, wyvern, roc, dragon, sea serpent; mermaid, merman, merfolk^†; unicorn; Cyclops, men whose heads do grow beneath their men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders" [Othello]; teratology.    [unconformable to the surroundings] fish out of water; neither one thing nor another, neither fish nor fowl, neither fish flesh nor fowl nor good red neither fish flesh nor fowl nor good red herring; one in a million, one in a way, one in a thousand; outcast, outlaw; off the beaten track; oasis.    ... show more

Roget 617: pretext, pretense, pretension, plea^†; allegation, advocation; ostensible motive, ostensible ground, ostensible reason, phony reason; excuse etc. (vindication) 937; subterfuge; color; gloss, guise, cover.    loop hole, starting hole; how to creep out of, salvo, come off; way of escape.    handle, peg to hang on, room locus standi [Lat.]; stalking-horse, cheval de bataille [Fr.], cue.    pretense etc. (untruth) 546; put off, dust thrown in the eyes; blind; moonshine; mere pretext, shallow pretext; lame excuse, lame apology; tub to a whale; false plea, sour grapes; makeshift, shift, white lie; special pleading etc. (sophistry) 477; soft sawder etc. (flattery) 933^†.    ... show more

Rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms.

synonyms: burst, fusillade, volley.

Roget 406: snap etc. v.; rapping etc. v.; decrepitation, crepitation; report, thud; burst, explosion, blast, boom, discharge, detonation, firing, salvo, volley.    squib, cracker, firecracker, cherry bomb, M80, gun, cap, cap gun, popgun.    implosion.    bomb burst, atomic explosion, nuclear explosion (arms) 727.    [explosive substances] gunpowder, dynamite, gun cotton, nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose, plastic explosive, plastique, TNT, cordite, trinitrotoluene, picric acid, picrates, mercury fulminate (arms) 727.    whack, wham, pow.    ... show more

Dutch: saluutschoten, eresalvo, schot voor de boeg, salvo

A sudden outburst of cheers.