Word.ws English Dictionary

pouncet-box

pouncet-box noun: a box with a perforated lid, used to contain pounce or perfume.

Noun

pouncet-box (plural pouncet-boxes)

  1. (historical) A box with a perforated lid, used to contain pounce or perfume.
    • Carrying a pouncet-box was a common custom among the upper classes in the 16th and 17th centuries.
    • And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held / A pouncet-box.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Forms of pouncet-box

pluralpouncet-boxes
alternative formpouncet box

Origin of pouncet-box

Compare French poncette.

Questions about pouncet-box

What does pouncet-box mean?
Pouncet-box means a box with a perforated lid, used to contain pounce or perfume.
What part of speech is pouncet-box?
Pouncet-box is a noun.
What is the plural of pouncet-box?
The plural of pouncet-box is pouncet-boxes.

Words near pouncet-box in the dictionary

  1. pouncers
  2. pounces
  3. pouncet
  4. pouncet box
  5. pouncet boxes
  6. pouncet-box
  7. pouncet-boxes
  8. pouncets
  9. pouncewort
  10. Pouncey
  11. Pounceys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pouncet-box (page history and authors). 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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