jounce

UK/d͡ʒaʊn(t)s/US/d͡ʒaʊn(t)s/

verbC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

To jounce is to bump and jolt up and down. Jounce over the ruts, jouncing along, a jouncing ride.

It is chiefly American now and describes the movement of a vehicle on bad ground. In suspension design it is a technical term for the upward travel of a wheel, with rebound for the other direction.

Definitions of jounce

1verbjounceTo bump and jolt up and down.C2
“The old bus jounced along the dirt track, throwing us out of our seats.”

jounce is a jolting.

Where it comes from

Late Middle English jouncen means to jolt violently, of unknown further origin.

Middle English
*jouncen — to jolt violently
English, today
jounce

Built from

jouncinge · Middle English — violent jolting movement

The is derived from Late Middle English jouncen (“to jolt violently”) (evidenced by jouncinge (“violent jolting movement”)); further etymology unknown, possibly. The is probably derived from the verb as it is attested later.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

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