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

Conversely, if your year-end travel plans are set and you don’t want to be stuck with a red-eye through Atlanta, pounce when you see a palatable price and move on.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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

"I thought that was a time to pounce," Stokes said of the declaration.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 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

Dogs like Dozer and Petunia lurked in all the shadows, ready to pounce.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

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

It all felt eerily familiar: The Dodgers, the winner of the last two World Series titles, pounced on the best player available on the market in an all-out pursuit for another at any cost.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 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

Gerson fired beyond gloveless Italy goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi, Jairzinho pounced on Pele's nod down, and Carlos Alberto capped perhaps the World Cup final's most complete performance with arguably its greatest goal.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

He slipped and skidded on the wet grass and Lydia pounced.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner

While some spearers use radar and other high-tech gizmos, many just sit and wait for a sturgeon to pass under their shack before pouncing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

He has the vision and instincts of an eagle, anticipating, reading and then pouncing and attacking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2025

Rublev cruised through the opening set before pouncing on Fearnley's serve at 4-5 to book his spot in the second round.

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2025

He hit the post with a header as Wolves searched for an equaliser at 1-0 down, then finished neatly after pouncing on Joel Latibeaudiere's mis-control.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2024

The Doctor was racing all over the room, pouncing and missing.

From "Stuart Little" by E.B. White

Related Words

• leap