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

While the other candidates pressed their palms against the podiums, ready to pounce on every question, Becerra clasped his hands like an altar boy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

To do it right, brands need to be among the first to pounce on a potentially viral mishap, said Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

They look very mean, like hungry tigers ready to pounce on us.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

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

The Springboks had the luxury of bringing on Damian Willemse from the bench, but it was another replacement who pounced next as scrum-half Jantjies sprinted over in his first Test for three years.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

He used the scoop and reverse scoop early and effectively against Prasidh Krishna, then pounced when he had knocked the India seamers off their lengths, smashing Arshdeep Singh over mid-wicket for six.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

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

When Maniac slipped silently from the house at dawn — the only way he’d ever manage to get away — March pounced with cold and nasty paws.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

While some spearers use radar and other high-tech gizmos, many just sit and wait for a sturgeon to pass under their shack before pouncing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 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

A car resembling a pouncing cat, with glowing green eyeballs for headlights, had just eased off the highway and pulled into the parking lot.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• leap