bounce
Americanverb (used without object)
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to spring back from a surface in a lively manner.
The ball bounced off the wall.
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to strike the ground or other surface, and rebound.
The ball bounced once before he caught it.
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to move or walk in a lively, exuberant, or energetic manner.
She bounced into the room.
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to move along in a lively manner, repeatedly striking the surface below and rebounding.
The box bounced down the stairs.
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to move about or enter or leave noisily or angrily (followed by around, about, out, out of, into, etc.).
He bounced out of the room in a huff.
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(of a check or the like) to fail to be honored by the bank against which it was drawn, due to lack of sufficient funds.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to bound and rebound.
to bounce a ball; to bounce a child on one's knee; to bounce a signal off a satellite.
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to refuse payment on (a check) because of insufficient funds.
The bank bounced my rent check.
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to give (a bad check) as payment.
That's the first time anyone bounced a check on me.
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Slang. to eject, expel, or dismiss summarily or forcibly.
noun
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a bound or rebound.
to catch a ball on the first bounce.
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a sudden spring or leap.
In one bounce he was at the door.
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ability to rebound; resilience.
This tennis ball has no more bounce.
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vitality; energy; liveliness.
There is bounce in his step. This soda water has more bounce to it.
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the fluctuation in magnitude of target echoes on a radarscope.
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Slang. a dismissal, rejection, or expulsion.
He's gotten the bounce from three different jobs.
adverb
verb phrase
verb
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(intr) (of an elastic object, such as a ball) to rebound from an impact
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(tr) to cause (such an object) to hit a solid surface and spring back
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to rebound or cause to rebound repeatedly
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to move or cause to move suddenly, excitedly, or violently; spring
she bounced up from her chair
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slang (of a bank) to send (a cheque) back or (of a cheque) to be sent back unredeemed because of lack of funds in the drawer's account
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(of an internet service provider) to send (an email message) back or (of an email message) to be sent back to the sender, for example because the recipient's email account is full
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slang (tr) to force (a person) to leave (a place or job); throw out; eject
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(tr) to hustle (a person) into believing or doing something
noun
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the action of rebounding from an impact
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a leap; jump; bound
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the quality of being able to rebound; springiness
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informal vitality; vigour; resilience
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swagger or impudence
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informal a temporary increase or rise
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Australian rules football the start of play at the beginning of each quarter or after a goal
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informal to dismiss or be dismissed from a job
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informal in succession; one after the other
they have lost nine games on the bounce
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bouncesimple
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bouncessimple
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have bouncedperfect
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has bouncedperfect
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am bouncingprogressive
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are bouncingprogressive
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is bouncingprogressive
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have been bouncingperfect progressive
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has been bouncingperfect progressive
Past
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bouncedsimple
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had bouncedperfect
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was bouncingprogressive
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were bouncingprogressive
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had been bouncingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bounce
1175–1225; Middle English buncin, bounsen, variant of bunkin, apparently cognate with Dutch bonken to thump, belabor, bonzen to knock, bump
Explanation
Bounce is a word for an up and down movement or recovery — like a ball's bounce on the pavement or the stock market's rise after a crash. Bounce can be a noun or a verb. A basketball player bounces a ball on the floor and it springs back into her hand. Trampolines have a lot of bounce in them; that's why they are fun to jump on. Good dance music makes you want to bounce up and down. The phrase “bounce back” describes how you might recover after a bad situation. Did you slip and suffer a painful bounce on the floor? Some hot chocolate will help you "bounce back."
Vocabulary lists containing bounce
This Feb. 29: 15 Words for "Leap"
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Tech firms enjoyed a much-needed bounce on Thursday, helping most Asian stock markets higher amid renewed hopes for the AI boom.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
That, coupled with the recent bounce, could suggest that a low may have already been seen.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I’ve watched the brand over the years sort of bounce around and not do anything,” Siegel said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Still, “at some point soon we should see some recovery as short sellers take some profit and give us a small bounce and prices firm.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
As we headed upriver along the Volta it was soothing to look out the window and see the sun bounce off its ripples.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
"She was just really funny. It's not the type of funny that's just telling jokes, it's sibling banter that just bounces off each other – we're just one upping each other, like tennis," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Fluky bounces can swing series and the winningest teams from the regular season can just as easily get swept in the first round as the wild card clubs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The question is whether that demand bounces back once the war ends.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
The Thursday morning setup is looking a bit messy as oil bounces around and as investors sift through earnings from the U.S. tech giants.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
It bounces off the wall and lands on the floor by the closet.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
But Mayo bounced back and trailed by only a point at 1-8 to 0-10 at half-time before surging clear in the third quarter, with Darragh Beirne's goal helping the Westerners build a five-point lead.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
U.S. stocks were slightly lower in cautious trading, as chip shares bounced back from last week’s bruising selloff and investors shrugged off a new Chinese AI model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
On Wednesday, the stock bounced more than 1% to get back to the $138 level shortly after the market opened.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Seoul led gains across Asian equity markets Wednesday as tech firms bounced back following a softer-than-expected US inflation print that soothed worries about a possible interest rate hike this month.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Stage makeup made their eyes look enormous, and their long, knobbly-kneed legs disappeared into wide feathered tutus that bounced comically when they moved.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
SpaceX shares were bouncing on Tuesday, surging as much as 8% on an intraday basis.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Loki’s movie misdeeds get him “removed from the timeline of history,” and in the “Loki” spinoff TV show, he faces his past while bouncing through time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Demand for new space is now bouncing back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Without air molecules to slow them down, methane molecules move freely under the influence of gravity, bouncing across the surface as sunlight energizes them and colder temperatures reduce their speed.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
After spending the first eight years of my life bouncing from one town to another because of Mom’s job, I wanted a permanent home.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
