bounce
/baʊns/
"bounce" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bounce” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,873 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #6,873
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bounce |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /baʊns/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,873 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bounce” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bounce is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /baʊns/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,873 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 22 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for bounce, with forms such as "bbounce", "bonuce", and "boucne". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bunch", "bound", "Bruce", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”). Compare Sat… The correct English form is bounce, spelled B-O-U-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle.
- 2To move quickly up and then down (or vice versa), once or repeatedly.
- 3To cause to move quickly up and down, or back and forth, once or repeatedly.
- 4To suggest or introduce (an idea, etc.) to (off or by) someone, in order to gain feedback.
- 5To leap or spring suddenly or unceremoniously; to bound.
- 6To move rapidly (between).
- 7To be refused by a bank because it is drawn on insufficient funds.
- 8To fail to cover (have sufficient funds for) (a cheque/check drawn on one's account).
- 9To leave.
- 10To eject violently, as from a room; to discharge unceremoniously, as from employment.
- 11To have sexual intercourse.
- 12To attack unexpectedly.
- 13To turn power to (a device) off and back on; to reset; to reboot.
- 14To return undelivered.
- 15To land hard and lift off again due to excess momentum.
- 16To land hard at unsurvivable velocity with fatal results.
- 17To mix (two or more tracks of a multi-track audio recording) and record the result onto a single track, in order to free up tracks for further material to be added.
- 18To render two or more tracks to computer storage so that they can be played back and re-recorded with further material added.
- 19To bully; to scold.
- 20To boast; to bluster.
- 21To strike or thump, so as to make a sudden noise upon rebound; to knock loudly.
- 22To race poorly after a successful race.
Etymology
From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”). Compare Saterland Frisian bumzje (“to pound, bang, bounce”), West Frisian bûnzje (“to throb, bounce, pulsate”), Dutch bonzen (“to thump, knock, throb, bounce”), German Low German bunsen, bumsen (“to beat, bounce”), German bumsen (“to thud, bang, pound”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbounce,bonuce,boucne,bouncce,bounec,bounnce,buonce,obunce
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bounce - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "bounce"?
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Using “bounce”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-O-U-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /baʊns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bunch” - see the side-by-side comparison. bounce vs bunch
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.