Bounce Meaning
/baʊns/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
verbTo move quickly up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
Sentence Examples
Hit the ball after the bounce.
We just have to bounce back.
You've got a real bounce to your flank.
CEFR Practice Quiz
When the toddler dropped the ball, it began to ____ high off the floor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young children love to ____ on the trampoline in the back garden.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"Out bounced the mastiff."
— 1731, On Mr. Pulteney's Being Put Out of the Council, Jonathan Swift:
"“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:
"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:
"All right, look, don't prang out. They had this paint-party-brunch thing. 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):
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
When the toddler dropped the ball, it began to ____ high off the floor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The young children love to ____ on the trampoline in the back garden.