From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_270_cpouncepounce /paʊns/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] ATTACKto suddenly move forward and attack someone or something, after waiting to attack them The cat was hiding in the bushes, ready to pounce.pounce on Kevin pounced on Liam and started hitting him. —pounce noun [countable] → pounce on somebody/something→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
pounce• Women may flirt, but men pounce.• He crouched on the ground, like an animal ready to pounce.• Josh was waiting like a cat, ready to pounce.• At the very least, a psychologist and social worker would pounce.• Miguel noticed a long black limo sitting under the el like a leopard waiting to pounce.• The only thing alive was the brooding darkness, full of horrors and spiders, waiting to pounce.• On one side are those who pounce on any scandal as evidence that they are unable to stop crooks.• Those that survive and hatch are then pounced on by water beetles, dragonfly larvae and many kinds of fish.• He said something unconsidered, Anna pounced on it.• Before he could rescue it, the cat pounced on the bird and carried it to the bushes.• The playwright pounces upon the gags like a poodle going after the petits fours.pounce on• The other woman pounced on her and began fighting.Origin pounce (1600-1700) pounce “claw” ((15-19 centuries)), probably from puncheon “pointed weapon” ((14-20 centuries)), from Old French poinchon 