v. i. To fall suddenly and seize with the claws; -- with on or upon; as, a hawk pounces upon a chicken. Also used figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

Derision is never so agonizing as when it pounces on the wanderings of misguided sensibility. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pounded p. pr. & vb. n. Pouncing ] To sprinkle or rub with pounce; as, to pounce paper, or a pattern. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ponce pumice, pounce, fr. L. pumex, -icis, pumice. See Pumice. ] 1. A fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, -- formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on manuscript. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Charcoal dust, or some other colored powder for making patterns through perforated designs, -- used by embroiderers, lace makers, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pounce box, a box for sprinkling pounce. --
Pounce paper, a transparent paper for tracing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. through French, from an assumed LL. punctiare to prick, L. pungere, punctum. See Puncheon, Punch, v. t. ] 1. The claw or talon of a bird of prey. Spenser. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A punch or stamp. [ Obs. ] “A pounce to print money with.” Withals. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Cloth worked in eyelet holes. [ Obs. ] Homilies. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To strike or seize with the talons; to pierce, as with the talons. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Stooped from his highest pitch to pounce a wren. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now pounce him lightly,
And as he roars and rages, let's go deeper. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To punch; to perforate; to stamp holes in, or dots on, by way of ornament. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Elyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Furnished with claws or talons; as, the pounced young of the eagle. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ornamented with perforations or dots. [ Obs. ] “Gilt bowls pounced and pierced.” Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Cf. F. poncette, fr. ponce pounce. See Pounce a powder. ] A box with a perforated lid, for sprinkling pounce, or for holding perfumes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The art or practice of transferring a design by means of pounce. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Decorative perforation of cloth. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Pounding. ] [ OE. pounen, AS. punian to bruise. Cf. Pun a play on words. ] 1. To strike repeatedly with some heavy instrument; to beat. [ 1913 Webster ]

With cruel blows she pounds her blubbered cheeks. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To comminute and pulverize by beating; to bruise or break into fine particles with a pestle or other heavy instrument; as, to pound spice or salt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Pounds collectively Pound or Pounds. [ AS. pund, fr. L. pondo, akin to pondus a weight, pendere to weigh. See Pendant. ] 1. A certain specified measure of mass or weight; especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of ounces. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The pound in general use in the United States and in England is the pound avoirdupois, which is divided into sixteen ounces, and contains 7, 000 grains (0.453 kilogram). The pound troy is divided into twelve ounces, and contains 5, 760 grains. 144 pounds avoirdupois are equal to 175 pounds troy weight. See Avoirdupois, and Troy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about $4.86 in 1900 and $1.50 in 2002. The modern pound coin was introduced in 1983. Formerly there was a gold sovereign of the same value. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

☞ The pound sterling was in Saxon times, about a. d. 671, a pound troy of silver, and a shilling was its twentieth part; consequently the latter was three times as large as it is at present. Peacham. [ 1913 Webster ]