feu de joie

/ French (fø də ʒwa) /

a salute of musketry fired successively by each man in turn along a line and back

Word Origin for feu de joie

C18: literally: fire of joy

The crowd, which had been popping off its feu-de-joie of jokes, steadied into silence to watch the old man climb to his seat.

Boy Woodburn |Alfred Ollivant
The same evening they witnessed at Cologne an illumination and pyrotechnic display which turned the Rhine into a feu-de-joie.

The Public Life of Queen Victoria |John McGilchrist
Our feu-de-joie was speedily explained, and the men flocked into the inn.

The Land of the Black Mountain |Reginald Wyon
Thirteen cannon came pealing up from Fort Putnam, which were followed by a feu-de-joie rolling along the lines.

The Hudson |Wallace Bruce

The salute that announces our departure will be a 'feu-de-joie' to both of us.

Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VI, November 1850, Vol. I |Various