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# pounce

«pounce» in Mova's school dictionary: **To jump suddenly onto something to catch it, like a cat…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (pounce, pounces, pounced, pouncing); noun (a pounce, pounces)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To jump suddenly onto something to catch it, like a cat catching a mouse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#m1)

2) To quickly attack or criticise a mistake or chance: «She pounced on the chance to go». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#m2)

3) (noun) A sudden jump to catch something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science: predators like cats, foxes and lions pounce on prey after stalking it. In stories it tells the reader an attack was sudden and fast. Phrases: «pounce on/upon», «ready to pounce», «pounce on a mistake».

### examples

- The cat pounced on the toy mouse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x1)
- The lion crouched, ready to pounce. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x2)
- The fox pounced on a vole in the snow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x3)
- She pounced on the chance to be in the play. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x4)
- The teacher pounced on my spelling mistake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x5)
- With one pounce, the kitten caught the ribbon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x6)
- In a jiffy he pounced upon it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/#x7)

### note

Verb: pounced, pouncing (drop e). Usually with «on» or «upon». Do not confuse with «bounce» (to spring back) or «pounds».

### In the corpora

- [Jumping spiders have two huge front eyes that see sharply and in colour, and they stalk and pounce instead of using webs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/38-spiders-scorpions-and-eight-legged-creatures/11/)
- [Cats are ambush hunters, and even well-fed pet cats still hunt because the urge to chase and pounce is built in.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/52-how-animals-hunt/16/)
- [Real cats hunt mice by waiting quietly and pouncing, and many well-fed pet cats are not very interested in hunting.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pounce» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pounce/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.