bounce

A written order to a bank for a certain amount of funds that has been dishonored because such funds are not available in the account in question. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. The bank notified me of several bounced checks that my husband has been writing around the country.

In continuous, consecutive, unbroken succession. (Used primarily in reference to sporting outcomes.) Primarily heard in UK. After six losses on the bounce, the new manager of the football team is already being replaced. They had 10 straight wins on the bounce heading into this tournament, but they were outclassed and eliminated in the very first round.

To be very active and energetic to the point of hyperactivity. How much sugar did you give the kids? They're bouncing off the walls!

to rebound from something. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) The ball bounced off the wall and struck a lamp. It hit the wall and bounced off.

to rebound out of or away from something. The ball bounced out of the corner into my hands. The ball bounced out of the box it had fallen into.

to discuss something with a number of people; to move an idea from person to person like a ball. I need to bounce this around with my family. I need to bounce around something with you.

to spring up and down due to natural elasticity or from being jostled or thrown. The ball bounced up and down for an amazingly long time. I bounced up and down in the back of that truck for almost an hour.

Sl. to treat someone by buying something. I'm bouncing for pizza. Any takers? Ralph sprang for drinks, and we all had a great time.

Prov. You cannot control everything that happens to you.; You should accept the bad things that happen. Bill: I bought a hundred lottery tickets this week, but I still didn't win! Alan: That's the way the ball bounces. I was planning to have fun on my vacation, but I've been sick the whole time. I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles. That's tough, but that's the way the mop flops.

to be forced to give up your job Which employees are most likely to get the ax when the company downsizes?

Recover quickly, as in She had pneumonia, but she bounced back in less than a week. This expression is a metaphor for the rebound of a ball or some elastic material.

Also, get the boot or bounce or can or heave-ho or hook or sack . Be discharged or fired, expelled, or rejected. For example, He got the ax at the end of the first week, or The manager was stunned when he got the boot himself, or We got the bounce in the first quarter, or The pitcher got the hook after one inning, or Bill finally gave his brother-in-law the sack. All but the last of these slangy expressions date from the 1870s and 1880s. They all have variations using give that mean "to fire or expel someone," as in Are they giving Ruth the ax?Get the ax alludes to the executioner's ax, and get the boot to literally booting or kicking someone out. Get the bounce alludes to being bounced out; get the can comes from the verb can, "to dismiss," perhaps alluding to being sealed in a container; get the heave-ho alludes to heave in the sense of lifting someone bodily, and get the hook is an allusion to a fishing hook. Get the sack, first recorded in 1825, probably came from French though it existed in Middle Dutch. The reference here is to a workman's sac ("bag") in which he carried his tools and which was given back to him when he was fired. Also see give someone the air.

Also, more bounce for the ounce. More value for one's money, a greater return on an investment. For example, Buying a condominium is better than renting for years and years; more bang for the buck , or We always get the largest packages of dog food-more bounce for the ounce. The first term originated in the late 1960s in the military for expenditures for firepower and soon was extended to mean an increased financial return or better value. The variant originated in the mid-1900s as an advertising slogan for a carbonated soft drink.

Pay another's expenses, treat, as in I'll spring for the dinner this time. [Slang; c. 1900]

Also, that's the way the ball bounces or the cookie crumbles . That is the way matters have worked out and nothing can be done about it. For example, I'm sorry you got fired but that's how the ball bounces, or They wanted a baby girl but got a third boy-that's the way the cookie crumbles. These phrases allude to an odd bounce or a crumbled cookie that cannot be put back together. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]