pounce

¹ American  

[pouns] / paʊns /

verb (used without object)

pounced, pouncing

1. to swoop down suddenly and grasp, as a bird does in seizing its prey.

2. to spring, dash, or come suddenly.

   Unexpectedly she pounced on the right answer.

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verb (used with object)

pounced, pouncing

1. to seize (prey) suddenly.

   The bird quickly pounced its prey.

noun

1. the claw or talon of a bird of prey.

2. a sudden swoop, as on an object of prey.

   Synonyms:

   spring, lunge, leap

pounce ² American  

[pouns] / paʊns /

verb (used with object)

pounced, pouncing

1. to emboss (metal) by hammering on an instrument applied on the reverse side.

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pounce ³ American  

[pouns] / paʊns /

noun

1. a fine powder, as of cuttlebone, formerly used to prevent ink from spreading in writing, or to prepare parchment for writing.

2. a fine powder, often of charcoal, used in transferring a design through a perforated pattern.

3. Also called pounce box.  Also called pounce bag,.  a small bag filled with pounce and struck against a perforated design.

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verb (used with object)

pounced, pouncing

1. to sprinkle, smooth, or prepare with pounce.

2. to trace (a design) with pounce.

3. to finish the surface of (hats) by rubbing with sandpaper or the like.

pounce ¹ British  

/ paʊns /

noun

1. a very fine resinous powder, esp of cuttlefish bone, formerly used to dry ink or sprinkled over parchment or unsized writing paper to stop the ink from running

2. a fine powder, esp of charcoal, that is tapped through perforations in paper corresponding to the main lines of a design in order to transfer the design to another surface

3. ( as modifier )

   a pounce box

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verb

1. to dust (paper) with pounce

2. to transfer (a design) by means of pounce

pounce ² British  

/ paʊns /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by on or upon) to spring or swoop, as in capturing prey

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noun

1. the act of pouncing; a spring or swoop

2. the claw of a bird of prey

pounce ³ British  

/ paʊns /

verb

1. (tr) to emboss (metal) by hammering from the reverse side

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Other Word Forms

• pouncer
  noun
• pouncingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of pounce¹

First recorded in 1375–1425 pounce ¹ ( for def. 4 ); late Middle English; perhaps akin to punch ¹

Origin of pounce²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pounsen, pounson, punchen, perhaps identical with pounce ¹

Origin of pounce³

First recorded in 1700–10; from French ponce, ultimately from Latin pūmic-, stem of pūmex pumice

Explanation

To pounce is to attack suddenly by leaping onto your prey. A tiger will slowly sneak up on its prey and then suddenly pounce, using speed as much as strength to make the kill. Of all the animals, cats are the best at pouncing. Snakes strike. Elephants charge. But when an animal leaps onto its prey, that's pouncing. When we talk about how people pounce, however, we're usually talking more figuratively. When we say that a person pounced on another person, we mean that they attacked viciously without warning — usually giving the victim no time to defend themselves. Lawyers pounce on witnesses, for example. If you feel suddenly ganged-up on, you might feel pounced upon.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pounce pounced pouncing

Rybakina is guaranteed to overtake Sabalenka if she reaches the semi-finals, while Pegula and Gauff could pounce if they win the title.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The moment to pounce came as Netflix fell 50% from a June 2025 high of $134 — the shares dropped to $67 in mid-June.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Sophisticated traders already use automated systems to monitor Truth Social and a review of trading data shows how quickly they pounce on the president’s comments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

"Octopuses are like cats: they will sneak up on their prey and pounce, and they want to do so as fast as possible, so that they don't become preyed upon," Tse says.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026

Matthew sat intent, ready to pounce on a hint of heresy.

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

Tennessee’s flagship university paid $1.9 million to a professor it fired after Fox News pounced on her comments.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

Root won the toss, pounced on the opportunity to bowl first and Robinson set the tone by pinning Azan Awais leg before with the first ball of the match.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

The Springboks had the luxury of bringing on Damian Willemse from the bench, but it was another replacement who pounced next as scrum-half Jantjies sprinted over in his first Test for three years.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

As we left the theater, a team of publicists pounced.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

For the second time that night, he ran to the door and flung it open—and was instantly flattened by Radar, who pounced on his chest and started licking his face from top to bottom.

From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers

Our reporting shows how Wall Street is already pouncing on his comments in fractions of a second, swinging energy and industrial stocks before everyday investors can even refresh their feeds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Their staple diet are deer, and they hunt by stealth often pouncing from trees or overhanging rocks.

From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026

In a sweep-evading 8-2 win over the Padres at Petco Park on Sunday, the Dodgers got back to working better at-bats, manufacturing consistent baserunners, then pouncing on mistakes with their lineup’s trademark pop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2025

From there, captain Wolvaardt and the emerging talent of Dercksen regrouped and blunted England's attack effectively, calmly rotating the strike and pouncing on any width to accumulate a steady fifty partnership.

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2024

Rather remarkably, they persuaded themselves that the animal had enjoyed "the agility and ferocity of the tiger," and portrayed it in illustrations as pouncing with feline grace onto prey from boulders.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• leap