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Pounce vs Grab - What's the difference?

pounce | grab |

As nouns the difference between pounce and grab

is that pounce is (historical) a type of fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, sprinkled over wet ink to dry the ink after writing or pounce can be the claw or talon of a bird of prey while grab is grave.

As a verb pounce

is to sprinkle or rub with pounce powder or pounce can be to leap into the air intending to seize someone or something.

pounce

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) ponce, from (etyl) pumex.

Noun

(-)
  • (historical) A type of fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, sprinkled over wet ink to dry the ink after writing.
  • (historical) Charcoal dust, or some other coloured powder for making patterns through perforated designs, used by embroiderers, lace makers, etc.
  • Verb

    (pounc)
  • To sprinkle or rub with pounce powder.
  • to pounce paper, or a pattern

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), probably akin to punch. Possibly from (etyl) ponchonner (compare French ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The claw or talon of a bird of prey.
  • (Burke)
    (Spenser)
  • A punch or stamp.
  • * Withals
  • a pounce to print money with
  • Cloth worked in eyelet holes.
  • (Homilies)

    Verb

    (pounc)
  • To leap into the air intending to seize someone or something.
  • ''The kitten pounced at the ball I threw to him
    She pounced on the young man, because she loved him and wanted him for herself.
  • To attack suddenly by leaping.
  • ''I was awakened from a dead sleep by my child pouncing on top of me from out of nowhere.
  • To eagerly seize an opportunity.
  • I pounced on the chance to get promoted.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=March 2 , author=Chris Whyatt , title=Arsenal 5 - 0 Leyton Orient , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Irish debutant Conor Henderson - another ball-playing midfielder - probed for a gap through the back-line and the 19-year-old's deflected pass was pounced on by Tomas Rosicky, who sped to the byeline to clip a square ball through the legs of Charlie Daniels across the box. }}
  • To strike or seize with the talons; to pierce, as with the talons.
  • * Cowper
  • Stooped from his highest pitch to pounce a wren.
  • * J. Fletcher
  • Now pounce him lightly, / And as he roars and rages, let's go deeper.
  • To stamp holes in; to perforate.
  • Synonyms
    * (instance of propelling oneself into air): leap, jump, bounce * (instance of causing oneself to fall from an elevated place): strike, attack (checktrans-top) * Spanish: (t-check) (trans-mid) (trans-bottom)

    grab

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (grabb)
  • To grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.}}
  • To make a sudden grasping or clutching motion (at something).
  • To restrain someone; to arrest.
  • To grip the attention; to enthrall.
  • (informal) To quickly collect or retrieve.
  • * 1987 James Grady Just a Shot Away , Bantam, p117
  • "I'll just grab my jacket," said Manh-Hung.
  • * 1999 Jillian Dagg, Racing Hearts, Thomas Bouregy & Co., p105
  • Hardly believing that Rafe actually planned to relax for a while, Kate nodded. "All right. Fine. I'll just go grab my purse."
  • * 2009 Mike Taylor, A Thousand Sleeps, Tate Publishing, p216
  • He looked at Albert and Ben, and then back to Nurse Allen. "I'll just grab my gear and be right back."
  • (informal) To consume something quickly.
  • To take the opportunity of.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 19, author=Paul Fletcher, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Blackpool 1-2 West Ham , passage=Both teams wasted good opportunities to score but it was the London side who did grab what proved to be the decisive third when the unmarked Vaz Te, a January signing from Barnsley, drilled the ball into the net from 12 yards.}}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a sudden snatch (for something)
  • * 1931 Harold M. Sherman, "The Baseball Clown," Boys' Life, Vol. 21, No. 4 (April 1931), Boy Scouts of America, p47
  • The ball popped in and popped out, and when he made a grab for it on the ground he kicked it with his foot.
  • * 2003 J Davey, Six Years of Darkness, Trafford Publishing, p66
  • He made a grab for me and I swung my handbag at him as hard as I could.
  • a mechanical device that grabs or clutches
  • # a device for withdrawing drills, etc., from artesian and other wells that are drilled, bored, or driven
  • (media) a soundbite
  • Derived terms
    * attention-grabbing * ungrab * up for grabs
    Synonyms
    * catch * clutch * grasp * seize * snatch

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) and (etyl) ghurb? : crow, raven, a kind of Arab ship.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A two- or three-masted vessel used on the Malabar coast.
  • Anagrams

    * * ----