rebound
Americanverb (used without object)
-
rebounds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rebounded,
past participle, past
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rebounding
present participle
-
to bound or spring back from force of impact.
-
to recover, as from ill health or discouragement.
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Basketball. to gain hold of rebounds.
a forward who rebounds well off the offensive board.
verb (used with object)
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rebounds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rebounded,
past participle, past
-
rebounding
present participle
-
to cause to bound back; cast back.
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Basketball. to gain hold of (a rebound).
The guard rebounded the ball in backcourt.
noun
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rebounds
plural
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the act of rebounding; recoil.
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Basketball.
-
a ball that bounces off the backboard or the rim of the basket.
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an instance of gaining hold of such a ball.
-
-
Ice Hockey. a puck that bounces off the gear or person of a goalkeeper attempting to make a save.
idioms
verb
-
to spring back, as from a sudden impact
-
to misfire, esp so as to hurt the perpetrator
the plan rebounded
noun
-
the act or an instance of rebounding
-
-
in the act of springing back
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informal in a state of recovering from rejection, disappointment, etc
he married her on the rebound from an unhappy love affair
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Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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reboundsimple
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reboundssimple
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have reboundedperfect
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has reboundedperfect
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am reboundingprogressive
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are reboundingprogressive
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is reboundingprogressive
-
have been reboundingperfect progressive
-
has been reboundingperfect progressive
Past
-
reboundedsimple
-
had reboundedperfect
-
was reboundingprogressive
-
were reboundingprogressive
-
had been reboundingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rebound
1300–50; Middle English (v.) < Middle French rebondir, equivalent to Old French re- re- + bondir to bound 2
Explanation
To rebound is to come back from a slump. You might rebound from an illness, or your country might rebound from an economic recession. Like many words that start with the prefix re, rebound involves something happening again. In this case, to rebound is to bounce back to a previous state or condition. When you start to feel happy again after your heart gets broken, you rebound. If the stock market crashes and then returns to a healthy level, it rebounds.
Vocabulary lists containing rebound
Defense, Dribble, and Dunk: Basketball Lingo
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Power Prefix: re-
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This Feb. 29: 15 Words for "Leap"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Related: Nvidia, AMD and other chip stocks rebound.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Those worries stand in contrast to a macroeconomic rebound that has defied years of multifront conflict, from the post-Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
If these things happen, Hartnett argues a year-end rebound and rally could start after the Thanksgiving holiday.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Crucially, however, before it could hit the central bank's long-term, two-percent target, it began to rebound in 2023.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
To the extent that major changes are achieved without a complete shift, the system will rebound.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
A market rout is testing the instincts of a generation raised on quick rebounds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Williams missed three games because of a sore left foot but returned Monday with nine points, two rebounds and two assists off the bench.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
Doncic started strong like usual, with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds in the first quarter as the Lakers took a 37-30 lead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
Previous rebounds have been powerful, it observes, with 32% jumps and outperformance of the S&P 500 by 30%.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
The trio developed what they called a Win Score, which was a rating system based on combining points and assists and rebounds and turnovers and shooting percentages in a complicated equation.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
That increased tolerance could help explain why many populations have survived and rebounded despite continuing exposure to the pathogen.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
Oil exports from the Persian Gulf have rebounded significantly, at times returning to and even surpassing their prewar volumes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
After a sharp 9% correction Thursday, SpaceX shares rebounded 3% on the news in pre-market trading Fridaqy and Crown Castle jumped 7%.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
Treasury yields rebounded slightly after weathering their biggest one-day decline in more than three years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
The dealer’s fingers spurned the pearl so that it bounced and rebounded softly from the side of the velvet tray.
From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
Shares of key chip companies were rebounding on Friday from the sector’s worst selloff in six years.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Asian equities were mixed after rebounding on improved risk sentiment, as concerns about aggressive artificial-intelligence spending continued to linger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
"Luxury spending is normally rebounding in sync with the economy, as usually the wealthy class will be among the first to benefit from economic recovery."
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
“We did get outrebounded a little bit,” he said, glancing at the Lakers’ 49-44 rebounding deficit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
The pod flew out from under Ron’s fingers and hit the greenhouse glass, rebounding onto the back of Professor Sprout’s head and knocking off her old, patched hat.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
