Bouncing, ppl. adj. (common).—Vigorous; lusty; exaggerated; excessive;
big. This word has manifold meanings, referring, in its various senses,
to largeness of size, vigour of action, with the idea of ungainliness
rather than elegance. It is, as will be seen, of long continued use.
c. 1563. Jacke Jugder, p. 42 (ed. Grosart). And made you a banket
[banquet], and bouncing cheare.
1588. Marprelate’s Epistle, p. 14 (ed. Arber). For there must bee
orders of ministers in the congregation where you meane this
bounsing priest should haue superiortie.
1611. Middleton, Roaring Girle, Act iii., Sc. 3. The duck that sits
is the bouncing ramp, that roaring girl my mistress.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xix. While I was at work in the
shop, a bouncing damsel, well dressed, came in.
1846. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. ii. By the side of many tall and
bouncing young ladies in the establishment, Rebecca Sharp looked
like a child.
Bouncing Cheat, subs. (old).—A bottle. [Bouncing, probably, says Grose,
an allusion to the explosive noise made in drawing a cork, + cheat, a
thing = Anglo Saxon ceat of the same meaning.] The French equivalent is
une rouillarde or rouille, said to be derived from rouler. Empty
bottles, it may be mentioned, are known as dead-men; camp-candlesticks;
dead-marines; fellow-commoners, etc. For other synonyms, see Dead-men.
Bounder, subs. (popular).—1. A four-wheeled cab or growler (q.v.).
[Supposed to be an allusion to the jolting motion caused when
travelling over a rough road, a fact intensified by the indifferent
springs upon which such vehicles are often hung.]
2. (University.)—A student whose manners are not acceptable; one whose
companionship is not cared for.