POUNCE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pounce

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/paʊns/ Listen

verb

Pounce v. t. (past & past part. pounded; pres. part. pouncing) To sprinkle or rub with pounce; as, to pounce paper, or a pattern.

Pounce v. t.

To strike or seize with the talons; to pierce, as with the talons. (Archaic) "Stooped from his highest pitch to pounce a wren." "Now pounce him lightly, And as he roars and rages, let's go deeper."

To punch; to perforate; to stamp holes in, or dots on, by way of ornament. (Obs.)

Pounce v. i. To fall suddenly and seize with the claws; with on or upon; as, a hawk pounces upon a chicken. Also used figuratively. "Derision is never so agonizing as when it pounces on the wanderings of misguided sensibility."

noun

Pounce n.

A fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on manuscript.

Charcoal dust, or some other colored powder for making patterns through perforated designs, used by embroiderers, lace makers, etc.

Pounce box, a box for sprinkling pounce.

Pounce paper, a transparent paper for tracing.

Pounce n.

The claw or talon of a bird of prey.

A punch or stamp. (Obs.) "A pounce to print money with."

Cloth worked in eyelet holes. (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Pounce'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pounce" Quotes from Famous Books

... kept his eyes about him all the way, looking into every nook and corner, for he could not tell in which a pirate-boat might have taken shelter, and he thought it more than likely that one might suddenly pounce out and try to capture him. None appeared. This, however, did not make him less cautious for the future. One of the many pieces of advice given him by Admiral Triton was never to despise an enemy, and always to take every precaution ...

— The Three Midshipmen • W.H.G. Kingston

... says his companion; "let's dash at them." In the third, a cat watches the movements of some unsuspecting mice: "There's a pretty collection of rogues gathered together," observes Grimalkin; "if there is not a plot among them, burn my tail and whiskers." In the last, we behold a Kite just about to pounce on some chicken: "The world's over-run with iniquity," says the bird of prey; "and these troublesome miscreants will not let honest hawks sleep in security." We shall return to the subject of these Government spies and the troubles of 1817 in the ...

— English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century. - How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times. • Graham Everitt

... hov'ring for descent, And I was in that place, methought, from whence Young Ganymede, from his associates 'reft, Was snatch'd aloft to the high consistory. "Perhaps," thought I within me, "here alone He strikes his quarry, and elsewhere disdains To pounce upon the prey." Therewith, it seem'd, A little wheeling in his airy tour Terrible as the lightning rush'd he down, And snatch'd me upward even ...

— The Divine Comedy, Complete - The Vision of Paradise, Purgatory and Hell • Dante Alighieri

... looked penetratingly at Mrs. Pett. Her left eye seemed to pounce out from under its tangled brow. "You S'porter ...

— Piccadilly Jim • Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

... name was Buttertongue; and all her time was spent in making mead, which, being boiled with curious herbs and spells, had the power of making all who drank it fall asleep and dream with their eyes open. She had two dwarfs of sons; one was named Spy, and the other Pounce. Wherever their mother went, they were not far behind; and whoever tasted her mead was sure to be robbed ...

— Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17) - Folk-Lore, Fables, And Fairy Tales • Various

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