pounce

¹ American  

[pauns] / 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  

[pauns] / 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  

[pauns] / 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, 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

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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

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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

There were familiar lapses in concentration defensively that gave Greece opportunities to pounce.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 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

One day, during the show’s final season, Bernstein told him he’d better pounce.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 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

Markie was on his belly, commando-crawling up behind her, ready to pounce when he got close enough.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

Minutes later, England were lucky not to concede a similar try when a pass bisected Jess Breach and Jones, who pounced on the ball just before Lizzie Gibson got to it.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Instead Zverev pounced, breaking Shelton’s big serve in the first game of the match and squashing his momentum on a humid afternoon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

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

“Well, we was rootin’ about by some hedges, Chief,” said Scumnose, “and we found a whole tribe of dormice fast asleep. So we pounced on ’em and tied them up in a bunch.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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

The French international was reduced to tears after pouncing on a Pope error to roll into an unguarded net.

From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 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

Adapting to the slowness of the pitch, he played none of his trademark dabs to third man, instead pouncing to whip through the leg side any time England dropped short.

From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2024

He put indignant conviction into this, pouncing on the first sprig of assertiveness in me.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

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