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Glite Dictionary
🐾 To jump to attack 🐾 A quick attack
pounce

pounce

1 4.0
A sudden movement to grab or attack something
  • noun
  • /paʊns/
translation icon : embestida
  • The hawks bombed a rabbit with pounce stoops until, confused or exhausted or probably both, the quarry was wrestled into submission by one of the juvenile hawks.

Still, it's no wonder that pounce is a mouse's worst nightmare.

Examples

  • The kitten pounce fest was in progress.

    Blog text (24)

  • There were two of them, and I could see at least one heavy club waving brown against the black and white woods as its carrier settled in place for the pounce.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • This may not represent a "pounce," but it was an effort nonetheless, however small.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Still, it's no wonder that pounce is a mouse's worst nightmare.

    SciShow

  • If, after these "surprise pounces," a kill is made fairly quickly, the members of the hunting party immediately perch near the carcass.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The cat made a sudden pounce to catch the unsuspecting mouse.

  • With a quick pounce, the falcon captured its prey from the ground.

  • The child's joyful pounce onto the trampoline sent him soaring into the air.

Synonyms

leap
vspounce
107 1.0

A jump through the air or a sudden strong feeling

is a sudden jump aimed at grabbing or attacking prey or target

Antonyms

withdrawal
281 4.1

Removing people or things from a place

hesitation
110 2.8

A short pause before you speak or act because you feel unsure

How Sudden

to swoop
66 3.1
lunge
4 4.9
pounce
1 4.0
spring
18 1.3
movement
696 1.5
to approach
532 2.1

Surface Forms

pounce singular
pounces plural

Etymology

Pounce as a noun comes from the same picture of a sudden leap or grab by an animal, like a cat or hawk, making a quick move to 'seize' its target. That's why a pounce is a sudden jump or action to take or attack something.