bounce
/baʊns/ verb, noun
Forms bounces bouncing bounced
- verb (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.”
- verb (intransitive) To move quickly up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly. “He bounces nervously on his chair.”
- verb (transitive) To cause to move quickly up and down, or back and forth, once or repeatedly. “He bounced the child on his knee.”
- verb (transitive, colloquial) 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.”
- verb (intransitive) To leap or spring suddenly or unceremoniously; to bound. “She bounced happily into the room.”
- verb To move rapidly (between).
- verb (intransitive, informal, of a cheque/check) 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.”
- verb (transitive, informal) 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.”
- noun A change of direction of motion after hitting the ground or an obstacle.
- noun A movement up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
- noun (Internet) An email that returns to the sender because of a delivery failure.
- noun (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.
- noun (slang) The sack, dismissal.
- noun (archaic) A bang, boom.
- noun (archaic) A drink based on brandy, cherry bounce.
- noun (archaic) A heavy, sudden, and often noisy, blow or thump.
Synonyms
bounce back rebound bob bang do it have sex approach cohabit common company copulate couple engage in sex exchange flesh have intimate relations have marital relations have sexual relations intercourse know know someone in the biblical sense bounciness leap leaping spring saltation bound bouncing resile take a hop recoil
Antonyms
Etymology
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To strike or thump, so as to rebound, or to make a sudden noise; a knock loudly.
- verb To leap or spring suddenly or unceremoniously; to bound; as, she bounced into the room.
- verb To drive against anything suddenly and violently; to bump; to thump. Swift.
- verb To cause to bound or rebound; sometimes, to toss.
Etymology [OE. bunsen; cf. D. bonzen to strike, bounce, bons blow, LG. bunsen to knock; all prob. of imitative origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bounce”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details