Word.ws English Dictionary

bounce

/baʊns/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northumbria/buːns/

bounce verb: to change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.

bounce: to change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle
Image: MichaelMaggs Edit by Richard Bartz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

bounce (third-person singular simple present bounces, present participle bouncing, simple past and past participle bounced)

  1. (intransitive) To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
    • The tennis ball bounced off the wall before coming to rest in the ditch.
    Synonyms:
    bounce back, rebound
  2. (intransitive) To move quickly up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
    • He bounces nervously on his chair.
    • The Black Cats contributed to their own downfall for the only goal when Titus Bramble, making his first appearance since Boxing Day, and Michael Turner, let Phil Jones' cross bounce across the six-yard box as Rooney tucked in at the back post.2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport
    Synonyms:
    bob
  3. (transitive) To cause to move quickly up and down, or back and forth, once or repeatedly.
    • He bounced the child on his knee.
    • The children were bouncing a ball against a wall.
  4. (colloquial, transitive) To suggest or introduce (an idea, etc.) to (off or by) someone, in order to gain feedback.
    • I'm meeting Bob later to bounce some ideas off him about the new product range.
  5. (intransitive) To leap or spring suddenly or unceremoniously; to bound.
    • She bounced happily into the room.
    • Out bounced the mastiff.1731, On Mr. Pulteney's Being Put Out of the Council, Jonathan Swift
  6. To move rapidly (between).
    • “The Queen’s Justice” had some fantastic moments of wit and heart but the structure and pacing didn’t do it any favors. The first section of the episode mostly bounced between Jon Snow’s arrival at Dragonstone and Cersei Lannister burning through her enemies and giving nary a fuck.2017 July 30, Ali Barthwell, “Ice and fire finally meet in a front-loaded episode of Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club
  7. (informal, intransitive) To be refused by a bank because it is drawn on insufficient funds.
    • We can’t accept further checks from you, as your last one bounced.
  8. (informal, transitive) To fail to cover (have sufficient funds for) (a cheque/check drawn on one's account).
    • He tends to bounce a check or two toward the end of each month, before his payday.
  9. (intransitive, slang) To leave.
    • Let’s wrap this up, I gotta bounce.
    • I was definitely looking forward to getting me some more of Yasmere in the future, so I took a quick second to give her a last little bit of love before I bounced.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 64
  10. (US, dated, slang, transitive) To eject violently, as from a room; to discharge unceremoniously, as from employment.
    • Nobody took umbrage and bounced me out of the Union for being a pro.1946, Yachting, volume 80, page 46
    • Anyone who gets bounced out of [this bar] is not just pushed onto the street — he is walked home, or put in a cab.1977 December 17, Tom Hurley, “The Evolution of Sporters”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 24, page 12
    1. (US, dated, intransitive, slang, transitive) To work as a bouncer.
      • I met him back when he bounced at the bar where I worked.
  11. (intransitive, slang, sometimes, African-American Vernacular) To have sexual intercourse.
    Synonyms:
    bang, do it, have sex, approach, cohabit, common, company, copulate, couple, engage in sex
  12. (transitive, air combat) To attack unexpectedly.
    • The squadron was bounced north of the town.
Show 11 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (transitive) To turn power to (a device) off and back on; to reset; to reboot.
    • See if it helps to bounce the router.
  2. (Internet, ergative) To return undelivered.
    • What’s your new email address? The old one bounces.
    • The girl in the bar told me her address was thirsty@example.com, but my mail to that address was bounced back by the server.
  3. (intransitive) To land hard and lift off again due to excess momentum.
    • The student pilot bounced several times during his landing.
  4. (intransitive) To land hard at unsurvivable velocity with fatal results.
    • After the mid-air collision, his rig failed and he bounced.
  5. (transitive, sound recording) To mix (two or more tracks of a multi-track audio recording) and record the result onto a single track, in order to free up tracks for further material to be added.
    • Bounce tracks two and three to track four, then record the cowbell on track two.
  6. To render two or more tracks to computer storage so that they can be played back and re-recorded with further material added.
    • bouncing stems
  7. (archaic, slang) To bully; to scold.
    • Would I had him here again, I would so bounce him, I would so thank his lordship for his lewd plot.1621 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Wild-Goose Chase; a Comedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC...
  8. (archaic, slang) To boast; to bluster.
  9. (archaic) To strike or thump, so as to make a sudden noise upon rebound; to knock loudly.
    • Another bounces as hard as he can knock.1708, Squire Bickerstaff Detected, John Partridge
  10. (slang) To race poorly after a successful race.
  11. (slang) To travel to a less busy section of a railway line, against one's intended direction of travel, usually for the purpose of obtaining a seat.

Noun

bounce (countable and uncountable, plural bounces)

  1. A change of direction of motion after hitting the ground or an obstacle.
    • Krohn-Dehli took advantage of a lucky bounce of the ball after a battling run on the left flank by Simon Poulsen, dummied two defenders and shot low through goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg's legs after 24 minutes.2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport
    Synonyms:
    rebound
  2. A movement up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
    Synonyms:
    bob, bobbing, bouncing
  3. (Internet) An email that returns to the sender because of a delivery failure.
  4. (quantum mechanics) A hypothetical event where a collapsing system, such as a universe in the Big Bounce theory, reaches a point of extreme density and then rebounds back into an expanding phase, essentially reversing the contraction due to quantum mechanical effects.
  5. (slang) The sack, dismissal.
    • Or how about, "Turn in your rubber/A pound or an ounce/It will all help our soldiers/Give Hitler the bounce."1942 June 16, “A Mouse in the House”, in Fibber McGee and Molly, spoken by Molly McGee
    • Someone more clever than I said, "It's not the bounce that counts, it's the bounce back. "2007, Annabelle Gurwitch, Fired!: Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, and Dismissed, page 243
  6. (archaic) A bang, boom.
    • I don't value her resentment the bounce of a cracker.1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer
  7. (archaic) A drink based on brandy, cherry bounce.
    • A prologue of cherry bounce,—brandy,—preceded the entertainment, which was enlivened by hob-nobs and joyous toasts.1870 May, “Irish Life”, in The Saint Pauls Magazine, volume VI, London: Strahan & Co., publishers, 56, Ludgate Hill, →OCLC, page 203
    • He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  8. (archaic) A heavy, sudden, and often noisy, blow or thump.
    • The bounce burst ope the door.1685, John Dryden, The Despairing Lover
  9. (archaic) Bluster; brag; untruthful boasting; audacious exaggeration; an impudent lie; a bouncer.
    • And, in fact, the whole story is a bounce of his own. For, in a most abusive letter which he wrote “to a learned person,” (meaning Wallis the mathematician,) he gives quite another account of the matter1827, Thomas De Quincey, On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts
  10. Scyliorhinus canicula, a European dogfish.
  11. (uncountable) A genre of hip-hop music of New Orleans, characterized by often lewd call-and-response chants.
  12. (slang, uncountable, African-American Vernacular) Drugs.
Show 6 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (slang, uncountable, African-American Vernacular) Swagger.
  2. (slang, uncountable, African-American Vernacular) A good beat in music.
  3. (slang, uncountable, African-American Vernacular) A talent for leaping.
    • Them pro-ballers got bounce!
    Synonyms:
    ups, mad ups
  4. (informal) An increase in popularity.
  5. An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of two fences close together so that the horse cannot take a full stride between them, nor jump both at once.
    Synonyms:
    no-stride
  6. (slang) The situation where a horse races poorly after a successful race.

bounce meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

bounce in Hindi

a bounce
टप्पा ṭappā

bounce in Tamil

துள்ளல், துள்ளு, துள்ளி, அதை

bounce in Urdu

چوکڑی, چوکڑی بھرنا

bounce in Bengali

লাফানো, প্রতিক্ষেপ করা
More languagesFewer languages
bounce in Telugu
బౌన్స్ చెయ్యడానికి
bounce in Malayalam
പന്തുപോലെ പൊങ്ങുക, തിരിച്ചടിക്കുക
bounce in Kannada
ಚಿಮ್ಮು, ಹಾರು
bounce in Punjabi
ਉਛਾਲ, ਉਛਾਲਣਾ
bounce in Gujarati
ઉછળવું, ઉછાળવું
bounce in Odia
ବାଉନ୍ସ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
bounce in Nepali
बाउन्स गर्न, बाउन्स गर्नाका लागि
bounce in Tagalog
talbog
bounce in Persian
بالا و پایین انداختن
bounce in Thai
เด้ง dêng
bounce in Vietnamese
nảy

Examples of bounce in a sentence

  • But I only stayed for 45 minutes, painted a tiny bit of a door, ate half an almond croissant and bounced.2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Nathan (Simon Manyonda):
  • Customers said I was a hoot; management gave me the bounce.2014, Lisa See, China Dolls:

All 40 example sentences with bounce

Synonyms of bounce

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of bounce

Forms of bounce

Verb
third-person singular presentbounces
present participlebouncing
past participlebounced
pastbounced
Noun
pluralbounces

Past tense of bounce: bounced

Plural of bounce: bounces

Origin of bounce

From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”). Compare Saterland Frisian bumzje (“to pound, bang, bounce”), West Frisian bûnzje (“to throb, bounce, pulsate”), Dutch bonzen (“to thump, knock, throb, bounce”), German Low German bunsen, bumsen (“to beat, bounce”), German bumsen (“to thud, bang, pound”).

Words formed from bounce

Phrases with bounce

Words that rhyme with bounce

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bounce

What does bounce mean?
Bounce means to change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
What is bounce in Hindi?
Bounce in Hindi is टप्पा (ṭappā). See Bounce meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bounce in a sentence?
But I only stayed for 45 minutes, painted a tiny bit of a door, ate half an almond croissant and bounced.
What part of speech is bounce?
Bounce can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce bounce?
Bounce is pronounced /baʊns/.
What is the past tense of bounce?
The past tense of bounce is bounced.

Words near bounce in the dictionary

  1. Boumas
  2. Boumerdès
  3. Boumphrey
  4. boun
  5. bouncable
  6. bounce
  7. bounce around
  8. bounce back
  9. bounce backs
  10. bounce house
  11. bounce houses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bounce (page history and authors); टप्पा (Hindi) (page history and authors); bounce (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bounce (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bounce (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bounce (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bounce (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bounce (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bounce (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bounce (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bounce (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bounce (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bounce.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bounce.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bounce. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.