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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

pounce.

A type of fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, sprinkled over wet ink to dry the ink after writing or on rough paper to smooth the writing surface.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/paʊns/
  1. A type of fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, sprinkled over wet ink to dry the ink after writing or on rough paper to smooth the writing surface.

    historical · uncountable · usually
  2. Charcoal dust, or some other coloured powder for making patterns through perforated designs, used by embroiderers, lacemakers, etc.

    historical · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

From French ponce, from Latin pūmex. Doublet of pumice.

verb/paʊns/
  1. To sprinkle or rub with pounce powder.

    transitive
    to pounce paper, or a pattern
Where this word comes from

From French ponce, from Latin pūmex. Doublet of pumice.

noun/paʊns/
  1. A sudden leaping attack.

  2. The claw or talon of a bird of prey.

    archaic
  3. A punch or stamp.

  4. Cloth worked in eyelet holes.

  5. Synonym of bump (“sudden movement of underground strata”).

Where this word comes from

From Middle English pounce, probably akin to punch. Possibly from Old French ponchonner (compare French poinçonner).

verb/paʊns/
  1. To leap into the air intending to seize someone or something.

    intransitive
    The kitten pounced at the ball I threw to it.
    She pounced on the young man, because she loved him and wanted him for herself.
  2. To attack suddenly by leaping.

    intransitive
    I was awakened from a dead sleep by my child pouncing on top of me from out of nowhere.
  3. To eagerly seize an opportunity.

    intransitive
    I pounced on the chance to get promoted.
    While he was out of town on vacation, I pounced, leaking the photos.
  4. To strike or seize with the talons; to pierce, as with the talons.

    transitive
  5. To stamp holes in; to perforate.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pounce, probably akin to punch. Possibly from Old French ponchonner (compare French poinçonner).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.