A Bounced Email and a Bounced Cheque Are the Same Idea
To bounce is to rebound after impact. Banking and email both use the word for something sent back undelivered.
To bounce is to spring back after hitting a surface. Two very different systems borrowed the same image for rejection: a cheque bounces when the bank returns it unpaid, and an email bounces when a mail server sends it back. In both cases the thing you sent comes straight back at you, which is exactly what a ball does.
- To rebound. *The ball bounced twice.*
- To be returned unpaid. *The cheque bounced.*
- To be returned undelivered. *The email bounced.*
- Energy or liveliness. *Full of bounce.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | bounce | Bounce the ball. |
| Past | bounced | It bounced back. |
| Noun | bounce | A high bounce. |
| Person | bouncer | The club bouncer. |
| Adjective | bouncy | A bouncy surface. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The cheque bounced.Insufficient funds.
- The message bounced back.Email delivery failure.
- He bounced ideas off a colleague.Tested them by talking.
Bounce in different fields
- Banking — a cheque returned unpaid
- Email — a message returned by the receiving server
- Web analytics — a visitor leaving after one page
- Music production — mixing tracks down to a single file
- Cricket — a delivery that rises sharply off the pitch
From Middle English *bunsen*, to beat or thump, probably imitative. The rebounding sense developed in the sixteenth century.
What is a bounce rate?
In web analytics, the share of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.
Why do cheques bounce?
Because the bank returns them unpaid, usually for lack of funds. The cheque comes back to the person who deposited it.