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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

It bounced over the wing's head and seemed to be heading for touch, only to bounce off the corner flag and back in-field to allow Marcus Smith to pounce for the opening try.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 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

Watch out for capex-related scares, but it’s worth being ready to pounce on the winners of all that spending as well.

From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026

Many companies see a moment to pounce on bigger deals that would normally face prolonged antitrust scrutiny.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

Rocket wasn’t perched on the top of Mom’s dresser, where sometimes he acted like he was a lion or a tiger out in the jungle waiting to pounce on his prey.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

A Wall Street Journal review of trading data shows how quickly some traders have pounced on the president’s online comments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

He pounced from close range to score the second goal in Mexico's 3-0 win over the Czech Republic.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Binance’s rivals pounced on its exit, with exchanges Coinbase and OKX, which both have EU licenses, offering bonuses to lure new customers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

At a debate last week, rival candidate Antonio Villaraigosa pounced on the payments made by Becerra, saying that the politician “has to be under suspicion because it doesn’t pass the smell.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

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

From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Alcaraz repeated the trick by again pouncing on the Russian's serve at 2-2 to get his nose ahead in the third set.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2025

Torbjörn Törnqvist has just struck one of the deals of his lifetime, pouncing on the overseas operations of Lukoil soon after the Russian oil producer was hit with U.S. sanctions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025

Since his return to Real Madrid, Ancelotti has more than ever focused his side on adapting to opponents, creating chaos, forcing errors, pouncing on them.

From BBC ● May 28, 2024

Amaroq, Nails, and Silver were testing the herd and Kapu was pouncing and bouncing.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

• leap