BOUNCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bounce mean? 

• BOUNCE (noun)
  The noun BOUNCE has 3 senses:

1. the quality of a substance that is able to rebound

2. a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards

3. rebounding from an impact (or series of impacts)

  Familiarity information: BOUNCE used as a noun is uncommon.

• BOUNCE (verb)
  The verb BOUNCE has 7 senses:

1. spring back; spring away from an impact

2. hit something so that it bounces

3. move up and down repeatedly

4. come back after being refused

5. leap suddenly

6. refuse to accept and send back

7. eject from the premises

  Familiarity information: BOUNCE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOUNCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of a substance that is able to rebound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

bounce; bounciness

Hypernyms ("bounce" is a kind of...):

elasticity; snap (the tendency of a body to return to its original shape after it has been stretched or compressed)

Derivation:

bounce (hit something so that it bounces)

bounce (spring back; spring away from an impact)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

bounce; bound; leap; leaping; saltation; spring

Hypernyms ("bounce" is a kind of...):

jump; jumping (the act of jumping; propelling yourself off the ground)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bounce"):

caper; capriole (a playful leap or hop)

pounce (the act of pouncing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rebounding from an impact (or series of impacts)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bounce; bouncing

Hypernyms ("bounce" is a kind of...):

backlash; rebound; recoil; repercussion (a movement back from an impact)

Derivation:

bounce (spring back; spring away from an impact)

bounce (move up and down repeatedly)

bouncy (elastic; rebounds readily)

• BOUNCE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bounce    ... he / she / it bounces   
Past simple: bounced   
Past participle: bounced   
-ing form: bouncing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spring back; spring away from an impact

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bounce; bound; rebound; recoil; resile; reverberate; ricochet; spring; take a hop

Context example:

These particles do not resile but they unite after they collide

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

bound; jump; leap; spring (move forward by leaps and bounds)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bounce"):

kick; kick back; recoil (spring back, as from a forceful thrust)

bound off; skip (bound off one point after another)

carom (rebound after hitting)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

bounce (the quality of a substance that is able to rebound)

bounce (rebounding from an impact (or series of impacts))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hit something so that it bounces

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

bounce a ball

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

hit (cause to move by striking)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bounce"):

bounce out (bounce a ball so that it becomes an out)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The children bounce the ball

Derivation:

bounce (the quality of a substance that is able to rebound)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move up and down repeatedly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bounce; jounce

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

The balls bounce
These balls bounce easily

Derivation:

bounce (rebounding from an impact (or series of impacts))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Come back after being refused

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

the check bounced

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

return (go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before)

Verb group:

bounce (refuse to accept and send back)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The checks bounce

Antonym:

clear (be debited and credited to the proper bank accounts)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Leap suddenly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

He bounced to his feet

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

bound; jump; leap; spring (move forward by leaps and bounds)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Refuse to accept and send back

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

bounce a check

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

decline; pass up; refuse; reject; turn down (refuse to accept)

Cause:

bounce (come back after being refused)

Verb group:

bounce (come back after being refused)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The banks bounce the check

Sense 7

Meaning:

Eject from the premises

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The ex-boxer's job is to bounce people who want to enter this private club

Hypernyms (to "bounce" is one way to...):

boot out; chuck out; eject; exclude; turf out; turn out (put out or expel from a place)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bouncer (a person whose duty is to throw troublemakers out of a bar or public meeting)

 Context examples 

The sound waves are bounced off internal tissues or organs and make echoes.

(Endorectal ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

High-energy sound waves from the transducer bounce off tissues and create echoes.

(Abdominal ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

This date will not be the time to shake the tree to see if any coconuts fall out, for they will, and bounce on your head.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A probe at the end of the endoscope is used to bounce high-energy sound waves (ultrasound) off internal organs to make a picture (sonogram).

(Endoscopic ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

The ultrasound probe is used to bounce high-energy sound waves off internal organs and tissues to make a picture on a monitor.

(Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration, NCI Dictionary)

He brought me some chops, and vegetables, and took the covers off in such a bouncing manner that I was afraid I must have given him some offence.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"At that point, it is very unlikely for them to bounce back."

(Unless warming is slowed, emperor penguins will march toward extinction, National Science Foundation)

LiDAR bounced pulsed laser light off the ground, revealing contours hidden by dense foliage in the 2,100-square-kilometer mapped area.

(Hidden Mayan Civilization Revealed in Guatemala Jungle, VOA)

Now Shark Bay's seagrasses are struggling to bounce back from the heat wave.

(Sharks, the seagrass protectors, National Science Foundation)

The timing of the radar echoes, as they bounced off the canyons' edges and floors, provided a direct measure of their depths.

(Cassini Finds Flooded Canyons on Titan, NASA)