# bounce off

CEFR B2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/bounce-off
Updated: 2026-10-22

## Definition

You use this when you tell someone your ideas or plans to see what they think about them.

For teachers: To share an idea or proposal with someone to elicit feedback or evaluate its viability. Transitive; requires a direct object representing the idea and a prepositional object representing the person.

## Examples

- Can I bounce a few ideas off you for the party?
- He spent the afternoon bouncing marketing strategies off his manager to prepare for the big presentation.
- The lead architect preferred to bounce preliminary sketches off the engineering team before committing to a final design.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I want to bounce off an idea to you." but "I want to bounce an idea off you." — The direct object must come before the particle 'off' when using this phrase to mean sharing an idea.

## Usage notes

- This phrase almost always follows the pattern 'bounce [something] off [someone]'.
- Teaching tip: Use the metaphor of a ball hitting a wall and returning to explain how feedback works in this context.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.