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.

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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  

[pouns] / 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  

[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.

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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

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

Now, that date is just around the corner and the New England Patriots are the heavy favorites to pounce first.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

Still, dozens of drivers crept around the lot, hoping to pounce if someone pulled out.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

“You want Sarah to pounce on you? Or Aliya to laugh at you?”

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

But Ruiz pounced on the rebound and deflected a shot past defender Timothy Castagne and into the back of the net.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 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

The animal then "pounced across the road" before jumping over another hedge.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Runt pounced on top of Pax, crowing at his successful ambush.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

Our reporting shows how Wall Street is already pouncing on his comments in fractions of a second, swinging energy and industrial stocks before everyday investors can even refresh their feeds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Ivory Coast found themselves two goals behind after just 21 minutes in Marrakesh, with Guelor Kanga pouncing on a handling error by goalkeeper Alban Lafont to put Gabon in front.

From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025

He hit the post with a header as Wolves searched for an equaliser at 1-0 down, then finished neatly after pouncing on Joel Latibeaudiere's mis-control.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2024

Escobar dominated the final City match of his career the way he dominated every other, waiting for his opponent to make a mistake and pouncing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2024

About the Saturday in December that Bunny ran around the house at five in the morning, yelling “First snow!” and pouncing on our beds?

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• leap