pouncet box

[ poun-sit ]

noun

a small perfume box with a perforated lid.

Origin of pouncet box

1590–1600; pounce² or pounce³ + -et

Words Nearby pouncet box

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pouncet box in a sentence

Mine own beauteous pouncet box, with the forget-me-nots in turquoises round each little hole.
Grisly Grisell | Charlotte M. Yonge
As to the coming of the agate and the pouncet box, the minds of the boys were very hazy.
The Armourer's Prentices | Charlotte M. Yonge
Sir Robert, a silver pouncet-box (a kind of vinaigrette) filled with scent.
Joyce Morrell's Harvest | Emily Sarah Holt
The archbishop shrugged his shoulders, and applied to his nostrils a small pouncet-box of dainty essences.
The Last Of The Barons, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The old eyes brightened o'er the pouncet-box, Remembering loves, and brawls, and mains of cocks.
King Cole | John Masefield

British Dictionary definitions for pouncet box

pouncet box

/ (ˈpaʊnsɪt) /

noun

a box with a perforated top used for containing perfume

Origin of pouncet box

C16 pouncet, perhaps alteration of pounced punched, perforated; see pounce 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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