trounce
Americanverb (used with object)
-
trounces,
present (3rd person singular)
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trounced,
past participle, past
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trouncing
present participle
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to beat severely; thrash.
-
to punish.
-
to defeat decisively.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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trouncesimple
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trouncessimple
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have trouncedperfect
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has trouncedperfect
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am trouncingprogressive
-
are trouncingprogressive
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is trouncingprogressive
-
have been trouncingperfect progressive
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has been trouncingperfect progressive
Past
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trouncedsimple
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had trouncedperfect
-
was trouncingprogressive
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were trouncingprogressive
-
had been trouncingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trounce
First recorded in 1545–55; origin uncertain
Explanation
When you trounce someone, you win decisively. If you win a chess match in three moves, you trounce your opponent. When a professional tennis player is in the midst of a tournament, she hopes to trounce her rival, and an ambitious speller might dream of the day she competes nationally and trounces all the other competitors. A victorious army can also be said to trounce the enemy. The origin of trounce is uncertain, though one theory has the French troncer, or "cut a piece off from," as its root.
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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:
Japanese stocks remain hot, with the Nikkei 225 continuing to trounce the U.S. equities market this year as it posted a fresh record peak on Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Meanwhile, the sumptuous imagery and amiable pacing of “Wuthering Heights” trounce del Toro’s ghastly slog of a film.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
That makes it unlikely that precious metals can trounce stocks the way they did in the inflationary 1970s when gold delivered 15 times the S&P 500’s return.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid's 28 points helped the 76ers trounce the Washington Wizards 131-110.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
We are playing West Charleston High School and they think they’re coming down here to trounce the hicks.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
It also trounces the reported $15 billion bounty that John Paulson scored in 2007 wagering against the housing market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
The fund’s strong performance in 2025 trounces the S&P 500’s 16.1% gain this year through Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 3, 2025
Amazon trounces both online retailers with 56% of its 268 million unique monthly visits in October resulting in purchases, its data shows.
From Reuters ● Nov. 22, 2023
If Soto sometimes trounces over the lyricism of her lines, she’s always true to Beatrice’s immediate circumstances and never falls into recitation for recitation’s sake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
When very young he deals with the matter in a straightforward fashion, and trounces the author for every unwitting solecism and willing falsification that is discovered.
From Our Stage and Its Critics By "E.F.S." of "The Westminster Gazette" by Edward Fordham Spence
His team was trounced 16–7 by the Kyrgyz side, the clear favourites to win.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
They trounced Rangers on all of the things that require no talent, just honesty.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
In that year, Democrats had been trounced in three straight presidential elections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
In Roberts’ Dodgers debut, on opening day at Petco Park, his team trounced the Padres 15-0.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026
She rolled the dice, bought the last available property, and once again we’d all been trounced by our sweet Grandma, the Monopoly champ.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Japanese stocks remain hot, with the Nikkei 225 trouncing the U.S. equities market this year as it posted a fresh record peak on Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
By contrast, utilities outshined in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, at one point trouncing the market by nearly 12 percentage points.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
After a year-long winning streak, they have suffered back-to-back Six Nations defeats, having been swatted aside by Scotland at Murrayfield seven days before their trouncing by Ireland.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
Apple’s iPhone revenue surged 23% year over year, trouncing expectations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Within months of its debut in 1996, Blue’s Clues was trouncing Sesame Street in the ratings.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions 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.
