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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

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

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Herbert had to pounce on the loose ball and the threat was thwarted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 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

"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

Those candid eyes, shadowed with makeup, yes, but like the eyes of cats, fixed for the pounce.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

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

California officials pounced on the small number of people alleged to have cast illegal ballots.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

New York immediately pounced, tallying eight runs after Gray exited en route to a 9-2 win that ended Boston’s season.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 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

The cat ignored me and pounced on a sluggish beetle that lumbered under a leaf.

From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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

From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026

The company has been monitoring social media for mentions of the Disney-YouTube TV stalemate and pouncing when anyone mentions DirecTV by answering questions and providing information.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025

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 loved the snow: pouncing on it and tossing lumps of ice high in the air, then skidding to a halt to listen to lemmings and snowvoles burrowing under the surface.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• leap

---