bounches

English

Noun

bounches

1. (archaic) Alternative form of bunches: plural of bunch
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene‎^[1], Book 2 Canto XII:

     So fashioned a porch with rare device,
     Archt over head with an embracing vine,
     Whose bounches hanging downe seemd to entice
     All passers-by to taste their lushious wine,

   • 1895, Thomas Abingdon, A Survey of Worcestershire‎^[2], Worcestershire Historical Society, page 74:

     His Armes ordered as before on his father's monument [...] 4. Gules, a cheueron between 3 bounches of grapes or pineaples Or.

Verb

bounches

1. Alternative form of bounces: third-person singular simple present indicative of bounce
   • 1785, Thomas Ruddiman, “Rodondo, or the State Jugglers”, in A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Valuable Pieces, Edinburgh: T. Ruddiman and Company, page 48:

     'You have observ'd within a roof,
     'An eager spider ply his woof;
     'And lurk perdue within the loom,
     'Nor think of all destroying Broom;
     'Whet for the caitiff fly his pounches?—
     'But if 'gainst web a hornet bounches,
     'Headlong to earth the spider falls,
     'While hornet marks not as he crawls!—

   • 1973, Alice Childress, Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, Samuel French, →ISBN, page 15:

     THE BELL MAN. (Sits on the bed and bounches up and down.) Awwww, Great Gawd-a-mighty!