# bounce

Pronunciation: say "BOWNS" /baʊns/

## Verb

1. To move quickly up and then down, or the reverse, whether once or many times.
   - Simple: To move quickly up and down, one or more times.
   - _The diving board continued to bounce after she leapt off._
   - _Loose change bounced in his pocket while he jogged._
2. To change direction of motion after striking an obstacle or surface.
   - Simple: To hit something and then move off in a different direction.
   - _Sound waves bounce off hard surfaces and create echoes._
   - _The arrow bounced harmlessly off the steel plate._
3. To make something jump up and down or move to and fro quickly, either once or repeatedly.
   - Simple: To make something move quickly up and down, or side to side.
   - _Workers bounce the conveyor belt to shake loose stuck items._
   - _The goalkeeper bounced the ball a few times before the kick._
6. To leap or spring suddenly and without ceremony; to bound.
   - Simple: To jump up suddenly or move with quick, springy steps.
   - _The children bounce down the stairs on Christmas morning._
   - _He bounced to his feet the moment his name was called._
7. To suggest or introduce an idea to someone in order to gain their feedback. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To share an idea with someone so they can tell you what they think.
   - _Let me bounce this proposal off you before I commit to it._
   - _She bounced several concepts off the design team._
8. Of a check, to be refused by a bank because it is drawn on an account with insufficient funds. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Of a check, to be sent back by the bank because there is not enough money in the account.
   - _Payments bounce whenever the balance falls below zero._
   - _The check bounced, and the store added a penalty._
9. To write a check that one's account lacks the funds to cover. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To write a check that the bank will not pay because your account is short of money.
   - _Tenants who bounce checks risk losing their lease._
   - _He bounced a check at the hardware store and had to pay a fee._
10. To leave a place, especially abruptly or casually. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To leave a place, often quickly.
   - _I'm going to bounce before traffic gets bad._
   - _She bounced right after the speeches ended._
11. Of an email or message, to return to the sender because it could not be delivered.
   - Simple: Of an email or message, to come back to the sender because it could not be delivered.
   - _Messages bounce when the recipient's mailbox is over its limit._
   - _The newsletter bounced from dozens of closed accounts._
14. To turn a device's power off and then back on; to reset or reboot it.
   - Simple: To turn a device off and then on again to fix a problem.
   - _Bounce the modem and see if the connection returns._
   - _The admin bounced the printer to clear the error._
15. To move rapidly back and forth between things.
   - Simple: To move quickly from one thing to another and back again.
   - _Her thoughts bounce between work and home all evening._
   - _The negotiations bounced between the two parties for weeks._
16. To land hard and lift off the ground again because of excess momentum.
   - Simple: To hit the ground hard while landing and lift up into the air again.
   - _Coming in too steep, the jet bounced down the runway before the pilots regained control._
   - _Pilots are trained to add power smoothly so the plane doesn't bounce on touchdown._
17. To mix two or more tracks of a multi-track recording and record the result onto a single track, freeing up tracks for more material.
   - Simple: To mix several recorded tracks together and save them as one track, so you have room for more.
   - _The engineer bounced the rhythm section to a stereo pair to save space._
   - _Before the session ended, they decided to bounce the backing harmonies down to one track._
18. In audio production, to save two or more tracks to a computer as a rendered file, so that the result can be played back and recorded again with new parts added.
   - Simple: To save two or more tracks onto a computer so you can play them back and add more music later.
   - _The producer bounced the arrangement to disk so the band could review it overnight._
   - _Once the parts are set, they bounce everything to the hard drive for later editing._
19. To attack suddenly and without warning.
   - Simple: To attack someone suddenly, when they do not expect it.
   - _The squadron bounced a flight of enemy fighters as they crossed the coast._
   - _Veteran pilots knew how to bounce an opponent out of the sun._
22. To have sexual intercourse. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To have sex.
   - _She hinted that they had bounced after their third date._
   - _The song is about two people who just want to bounce all night._
29. To strike the ground at an unsurvivable velocity, with fatal results.
   - Simple: To hit the ground so hard while falling that you are killed.
   - _The instructor warned that a tangled reserve could mean the jumper would bounce._
   - _Two skydivers bounced that season when their canopies collided._

## Noun

4. An upward and then downward movement, or the reverse, occurring once or repeatedly.
   - Simple: A quick up-and-down movement.
   - _The new mattress has surprising bounce._
   - _The gymnast used the mat's bounce to add height to her flips._
5. A change in the direction of motion after striking the ground or an obstacle.
   - Simple: The way a ball comes off the ground or a wall in a new direction.
   - _The dry pitch gave the ball extra bounce that afternoon._
   - _Defenders struggled with the unpredictable bounce on the worn field._
12. Email that returns to the sender as a result of a delivery failure.
   - Simple: Email that comes back to you because it could not be delivered.
   - _The campaign produced heavy bounce from outdated mailing lists._
   - _Administrators monitor bounce to keep the sender reputation high._
13. An increase in someone's or something's popularity. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A rise in how popular someone or something is, usually for a short time.
   - _The candidate saw a clear bounce after the televised town hall._
   - _The product launch gave the brand a real bounce._
21. Removal from employment; the sack. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Being fired or made to leave a job.
   - _Everyone in the office expected the bounce after the bad quarterly results._
   - _He took the bounce in stride and started job-hunting the next day._
23. A genre of New Orleans hip-hop music characterized by call-and-response chants that are often lewd.
   - Simple: A kind of hip-hop music from New Orleans with call-and-response chants.
   - _New Orleans bounce filled the speakers as the crowd answered every chant._
   - _Her new album leans heavily into bounce._
24. Confident, stylish self-assurance; swagger. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A confident, stylish way of carrying yourself.
   - _The young point guard played with undeniable bounce._
   - _There was a certain bounce in the way he dressed and spoke._
25. A natural talent for leaping; jumping ability. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A natural ability to jump high.
   - _The forward's bounce let him grab rebounds over taller players._
   - _Scouts noticed her bounce the moment she went up for the block._
26. A strong, danceable beat in a piece of music. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A strong, catchy beat in music.
   - _The remix added bounce that the original was missing._
   - _Listeners loved the bounce in the chorus._
27. A hypothetical event in which a collapsing system, such as a universe, reaches extreme density and then rebounds into an expanding phase, reversing the contraction through quantum mechanical effects.
   - Simple: A possible event where a shrinking universe reaches huge density and then springs back into growing again.
   - _The Big Bounce theory proposes a bounce in place of an initial singularity._
   - _Cosmologists model how a bounce might leave traces in the cosmic microwave background._
28. An obstacle for a horse to jump, made of two fences set so close together that the horse can neither take a full stride between them nor clear both at once.
   - Simple: A jump made of two fences set so close that a horse cannot take a stride between them.
   - _She schooled her mare over a bounce to sharpen its takeoff._
   - _The course designer placed a tricky bounce just before the water jump._
30. Illicit drugs; narcotics. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Illegal street drugs.
   - _Word on the block was that he moved bounce for the local crew._
   - _Police found a quantity of bounce during the raid._

## Verb

20. To eject someone violently from a place, or to dismiss someone abruptly from a job. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: To throw someone out of a place, or to fire someone from a job, in a rough way.
   - _The bouncer bounced two rowdy patrons into the street._
   - _The manager decided to bounce the new hire after a single bad shift._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To intimidate or browbeat someone, or to tell them off angrily.
- (verb) To brag loudly or talk big in a swaggering way.
- (verb) To bang or pound on something, such as a door, so that it makes a sharp, loud noise.
- (verb) Of a racehorse, to perform badly in the race that follows a strong performance.
- (noun) A sudden loud explosive noise.
- (noun) A sweet liqueur made by steeping fruit, especially cherries, in brandy with sugar.
- (noun) A hard, abrupt knock or thud, often a noisy one.
- (noun) Swaggering talk, shameless exaggeration, or a bold lie.
- (noun) The lesser spotted dogfish, a small shark of European coastal waters.
- (noun) A poor showing by a racehorse in the race right after a strong one.

## Origin

From Middle English bounsen or bunsen ('to beat, thump'), of uncertain origin. It is perhaps imitative, related to 'bump' or to Middle English bonchen ('to pound, beat') and Dutch bonken ('to bump'), and is cognate with Scots bunce ('to bounce').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bounce (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).