bounce
- 01 A2 Elementary
v.to hit a surface and move back in the opposite direction.
v.to recoil or change direction after striking an obstacle or surface.
Simple“The ball hit the wall and bounced right back into my hands.”
In context“The tennis ball bounced unexpectedly high on the clay court, catching the seasoned professional off guard during the final set.”
- 02 A2 Elementary
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to tell someone an idea to see what they think of it.
v.to present an idea or concept to another person to elicit feedback or evaluate its viability.
Simple“Can I bounce a few ideas off you for the new project?”
In context“The creative director preferred to bounce preliminary concepts off the junior staff to gauge how a younger demographic might respond to the campaign.”
UsageUsually used with the preposition 'off'.
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.when a bank refuses to pay a check because there is not enough money in the account.
v.to be returned by a financial institution due to insufficient funds; can be used transitively for the check or intransitively for the account holder.
Simple“I forgot to transfer the money, so my rent check bounced.”
In context“The supplier became irate when the second consecutive payment bounced, prompting them to suspend all future deliveries until the debt was settled in cash.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
v.to leave a place quickly or suddenly.
v.to depart from a location, often abruptly or unceremoniously.
Simple“This party is getting boring, let's bounce.”
In context“After realizing the atmosphere at the club had turned hostile, the group decided it was time to bounce before any real trouble started.”
- 06 C1 Advanced
v.to turn a machine off and then immediately back on again.
v.to power-cycle a device or service to clear errors or apply updates.
Simple“The server is acting slow, so I am going to bounce it tonight.”
In context“The system administrator decided to bounce the database service during the maintenance window to resolve the persistent memory leak.”
- 07 C1 Advanced
v.to mix several music tracks into one single track.
v.to render or export multiple audio tracks into a single file or track to conserve processing power or simplify the mix.
Simple“Once you finish the vocals, bounce the track so I can listen to it.”
In context“The engineer had to bounce the drum stems to a single stereo file because the project was exceeding the hardware's processing limits.”
- 08 B1 Intermediate
n.the act of hitting a surface and moving back.
n.the physical instance or quality of rebounding from a surface.
Simple“The ball has lost its bounce because it is too old.”
In context“The pitch was criticized for its uneven bounce, which made it nearly impossible for the batsmen to predict the trajectory of the ball.”
Synonymsreboundspringiness - 09 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a feeling of energy, confidence, or a good rhythm in music.
n.a quality of liveliness, resilience, or a specific rhythmic character in music.
Simple“She walked with a happy bounce in her step.”
In context“The new single has a great bounce that makes it perfect for the summer festival circuit.”
“It took us bouncing on top of spades like pogo sticks to make any headway.”
“Dancers don’t bounce off the walls but rather melt into them.”
From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”). Compare Saterland Frisian bumzje (“to pound, bang, bounce”), West Frisian bûnzje (“to throb, bounce, pulsate”), Dutch bonzen (“to thump, knock, throb, bounce”), German Low German bunsen, bumsen (“to beat, bounce”), German bumsen (“to thud, bang, pound”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.