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pouncet box

[poun-sit]
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noun
  1. a small perfume box with a perforated lid.
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Origin of pouncet box

1590–1600; pounce2 or pounce3 + -et
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pouncet box

Historical Examples

  • He came with some plea of bringing a pouncet-box from her, but I wager it was as a spy.

    The Chaplet of Pearls

    Charlotte M. Yonge

  • 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

noun
  1. a box with a perforated top used for containing perfume
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Word Origin

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