How to use bounce in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Bounce means to change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle. Example: “The tennis ball bounced off the wall before coming to rest in the ditch.”

Examples of bounce by meaning

verbTo change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.

The tennis ball bounced off the wall before coming to rest in the ditch.

verbTo move quickly up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.

He bounces nervously on his chair.

verbTo 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.

verbTo 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.

verbTo leap or spring suddenly or unceremoniously; to bound.

She bounced happily into the room.

verbTo move rapidly (between).

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

verbTo 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.

verbTo 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.

More sentences with bounce

If the tennis ball bounces on the line then it's in.From the entry in
The grounder hit the bag and bounced over the fielder’s head.From the entry bag
His wedge shot bounced off the stick and went in the hole.From the entry stick
The bullets just bounced off the steel plate on its hull.From the entry plate
The football caught the edge of the line but then bounced out.From the entry out
The wild pitch bounced and hit the catcher in the throat.From the entry throat
He threw a textbook air bounce, under the marker's arms, over the cup's heads.From the entry air bounce
We bounced around some suggestions in-house and then workshopped the best ones afterward.From the entry bounce around
We bounced some ideas around but didn't take it any further.From the entry bounce around
I didn't want to, but the salesman bounced me into it.From the entry bounce into
The light bounces back off the mirror.From the entry back
How are you off for cash? After you bounced those checks last time, they want to be paid in cash.From the entry cash
She answered with a perky smile and bounced off.From the entry perky
We thought he'd die from the crash, but he bounced back to normal after 10 days in hospital.From the entry bounce back
I have a plan to bounce off you.From the entry bounce off
Let me bounce an idea off you.From the entry bounce off
I stopped when the cops bounced in on me.From the entry bounce in
Cubarsí’s shot bounces awkwardly in front of him but there’s not a lot of power behind it.2026 July 10, Billy Munday, “Spain 2-1 Belgium: World Cup 2026 quarter-final”, in the Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry poacher
Winning back former Labour voters has generally been a key component of the Burnham bounce.2026 August 1, Sir John Curtice, “Sir John Curtice: The 'Burnham bounce' is real but it's not massive”, in BBC News. From the entry Burnham bounce
After an initial bounce back, the post-Covid Chinese economy has turned sluggish.2023 November 15, Tessa Wong, “Xi Jinping arrives in US as his Chinese Dream sputters”, in BBC. From the entry sluggish
In the passenger seat, Ridley bounced in place like a dog doing tippy-taps.2023, James L. Sutter, chapter 19, in Darkhearts, Andersen Press, →ISBN. From the entry tippy-tap
It's only because our mind is frickle and so they easily bounce back at times.2022, Vikas Soni, The Black Heart. From the entry frickle
Thomas Jepsen, 30, of Raleigh, North Carolina, bought a bounce house for his children midpandemic.2021 June 13, Hannah Selinger, “Slip (and slide) in your backyard”, in The Republican, page F2. From the entry midpandemic
They bounced their kickball against the wall, flinging it at one another’s heads.2020, Bryan Washington, Memorial, Atlantic Books (2021), page 166. From the entry kickball
One hazard is the tambour, a buttress which juts out and causes the ball to bounce unpredictably.2019, Simon Horobin, Bagels, Bumf, and Buses, page 150. From the entry tambour
Catch a tennis ball thrown by a partner or bounced off a wall.2017, Clive Brewer, Athletic Movement Skills: Training for Sports Performance, page 354. From the entry trampet
It was the twerk that bounced around the world in less than a day.2016, Jacqueline Warwick, Allison Adrian, editors, Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music, Routledge, →ISBN. From the entry twerk
I was a mage gnome -- and yes I bounced around everywhere!2016 June 3, Richard Trenholm, quoting Selina Pound, “Memories of Warcraft: Fans including Duncan Jones remember their WoW experiences”…. From the entry warcraft
Light bounced from large white surfaces (e.g., matte reflector boards, or a white ceiling).2015, Jim Owens, Television Production, page 194. From the entry broad
The anchoring harpoons and retro-rockets did not work and the lander bounced off the comet.2015 July 31, Amina Khan, “After a bounce, Rosetta's Philae lander serves up cometary surprises”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 01 May…. From the entry stick the landing
The second gunman bounced up and fired a shot at the Gunsmith.2014, J.R. Roberts, Gundown in Paradise, →ISBN. From the entry colt

Meaning of bounce

verb To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
verb To move quickly up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
verb To cause to move quickly up and down, or back and forth, once or repeatedly.

Full definition of bounce

Questions about bounce in a sentence

How do you use bounce in a sentence?: Bounce is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The tennis ball bounced off the wall before coming to rest in the ditch.”
What is a short sentence with bounce?: “He bounces nervously on his chair.”
What does bounce mean?: Bounce means to change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bounce (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use bounce in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/bounce. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.