What is "pounce"

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

Derision is never so agonizing as when it pounces on the wanderings of misguided sensibility.
--Jeffrey.

Pounce \Pounce\, 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.

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

   Pounce box, a box for sprinkling pounce.

   Pounce paper, a transparent paper for tracing.

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

Pounce \Pounce\, 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.

2. A punch or stamp. [Obs.] ``A pounce to print money with.''
   --Withals.

3. Cloth worked in eyelet holes. [Obs.]
   --Homilies.

Pounce \Pounce\, v. t.

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

   Stooped from his highest pitch to pounce a wren.
   --Cowper.

   Now pounce him lightly, And as he roars and rages, let's go deeper.
   --J. Fletcher.

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

1680s, originally "to seize with the pounces," from Middle English pownse (n.) "hawk's claw" (see pounce (n.)). Meaning "to jump or fall upon suddenly" is from 1812. Figurative sense of "lay hold of eagerly" is from 1840. Related: Pounced; pouncing.

"claw of a bird of prey," late 15c., pownse, probably from Old French ponchon "lance, javelin; spine, quill" (Modern French poinçon; see punch (v.)). So called for being the "claws that punch" holes in things. In falconry, the heel claw is a talon, and others are pounces. Meaning "an act of jumping or falling upon" is from 1825. In Middle English also the name of a tool for punching holes or embossing metal (late 14c.).

Etymology 1 n. 1 (context historical English) A type of fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, sprinkled over wet ink to dry the ink after writing. 2 (context historical English) Charcoal dust, or some other coloured powder for making patterns through perforated designs, used by embroiderers, lace makers, etc. vb. (context transitive English) To sprinkle or rub with pounce powder. Etymology 2

n. 1 The claw or talon of a bird of prey. 2 A punch or stamp. 3 Cloth worked in eyelet holes. vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To leap into the air intending to seize someone or something. 2 (context intransitive English) To attack suddenly by leaping. 3 (context intransitive English) To eagerly seize an opportunity.

1. n. the act of pouncing

2. v. move down on as if in an attack; "The raptor swooped down on its prey"; "The teacher swooped down upon the new students" [syn: swoop]

Pounce is a line of cat treats or snacks that are manufactured by Del Monte Foods. The treats come in different flavors such as Tuna, Chicken, Seafood Medley, and Catnip. In the 1980s, pounces were also available in such flavors as shrimp (packaged in a yellow container) and beef (packaged in a red container), vegetable (in a green container), and Italian Bread (in a white container).

Pounce ultimately derives from the Latin for pumice via the old French word "ponce". It is a fine powder, most often made from powdered cuttlefish bone that was used both to dry ink and to sprinkle on a rough writing surface to make it smooth enough for writing. This last was certainly needed if the paper came "unsized", that is lacking the thin gelatinous material used to fill the surface of the paper and make it smooth enough for writing with a quill or a steel nib.

Although some people claim that pounce was never added afterwards to dry ink, this probably represents confusion between the two processes of preparing paper and drying the ink after writing. Experiment shows that using pounce does indeed smooth "unsized" paper but then does little or nothing to dry the ink after you have written on that prepared paper, and it is clearly the case that pouncing or sanding continued long after properly "sized" writing paper came into general use during the nineteenth century.

The pounce or sand is gently sprinkled all over the writing on the paper. When using a quill or a steel nib, and with inks that are made up to match those typically in use during the 18th or 19th centuries, and provided the pen has been used with the fine strokes typical of handwriting of that period, the handwriting will be sufficiently dry within 10 seconds to allow the paper to be folded without blotting. Gently vibrating the paper whilst the pounce or sand is on it ensures that little or no pounce or sand sticks to the handwriting and excess sand or pounce is shaken off before folding the paper.

In the 19th century the pounce pots or sanders often had a shallow dish round the top so that pounce or sand could be returned to the pot and reused. The process is very effective for quickly drying ink, and although blotting paper has been available since Tudor times, pounce or sand continued to be used throughout the nineteenth century because it was often cheaper.

Category:Calligraphy

Pounce may refer to:

• Pounce (art), a method of transferring images from one surface to another
• Pounce (calligraphy), a powder used to prevent ink from spreading and to blot up excess ink
• Pounce (cat treats), a brand of cat treats
• Another name for the card game Nertz
• FC Gold Pride's cougar mascot
• Pounce, Georgia State University's blue panther mascot
• Pounce, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee's black panther mascot
• The Pounce, TNA alumni Monty Brown's finisher
• Pounce (Transformers), a character from the Transformers series
• Pownce, a free social networking and micro-blogging site.

Pounce is the official mascot of Georgia State University. Pounce is usually represented as a stylized panther with blue fur, sharp white teeth with protruding canines, and black whiskers. He usually wears either the men's basketball outfit (during basketball season) or the University football uniform. Pounce has existed in his current form since 2009, but has existed in two previous forms. Prior to that, a host of other mascots represented Georgia State University.

Pouncing is an art technique used for transferring an image from one surface to another. It is similar to tracing, and is useful for creating copies of a sketch outline to produce finished works. Pouncing has been a common technique for centuries, used to create copies of portraits and other works that would be finished as oil paintings, engravings, and so on. The most common method involves laying semi-transparent paper over the original image, then tracing along the lines of the image by creating pricked marks on the top sheet of paper. This pounced drawing made of pricked holes is laid over a new working surface. A powder such as chalk, graphite or pastel is forced through the holes to leave an outline on the working surface below, thus transferring the image. The powder is applied by being placed into a small bag of thin fabric such as cheesecloth, then dabbed onto the pricked holes of the pounced drawing.