bouncer
nounUK /ˈbaʊn.sə/ · US /ˈboʊn.sɚ/
Etymology From bounce + -er.
12 senses
- 1A person or thing that bounces something, such as a ball.
- 2A member of security personnel employed by bars…
- 3A short-pitched ball that bounces up towards, or above…
- 4An account or server (as with IRC and FTP) that…
- 5One who bounces; a large, heavy person who makes much…
- 6A boaster; a bully.
- 7Something big; a good stout example of the kind.
- 8A bold lie.
- 9A liar.
- 10A bouncy castle.
- 11A kind of seat mounted in a framework in which a baby…
- 12Short for shop-bouncer
A person or thing that bounces something, such as a ball.
Informal A member of security personnel employed by bars, nightclubs, etc. to decide who can enter, maintain order, and deal with patrons who cause trouble.
- At 199 centimetres and a hundred kilos going up, he was scary big and he found work as a bouncer and enforcer[.]2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117:
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A short-pitched ball that bounces up towards, or above the height of the batsman’s head.
- ‘You try to hit the bouncer that you should duck under. Your bat misses it completely. The ball strikes your temple, whack!’1998, Kamila Shamsie, In the City by the Sea, Bloomsbury (2004), page 165:
Internet An account or server (as with IRC and FTP) that invisibly redirects requests to another, used for anonymity or vanity.
Dated One who bounces; a large, heavy person who makes much noise in moving.
- "Why, I'll tell you, Mr. Simple; he's a good tempered, kind fellow enough, but—" / "But what?" / "Such a bouncer!!" / "How do you mean? He's not a very stout man." / "Bless you, Mr. Simple, why don't you understand English. I mean that he's the greatest liar that ever walked a deck.[…]"1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XII, in Peter Simple. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 190:
Something big; a good stout example of the kind.
- The stone must be a bouncer.1842, Thomas De Quincey, “Modern Greece”, in Blackwood's Magazine:
- "… when he wants to accomplish his purpose, he does not hesitate to invent—I am not quite sure of the word, but I think it is “bouncers.”1877, W. S. Gilbert, “Engaged”, in Original Plays, Second Series, London: Chatto & Windus, published 1899, page 83:
- "Why, I'll tell you, Mr. Simple; he's a good tempered, kind fellow enough, but—" / "But what?" / "Such a bouncer!!" / "How do you mean? He's not a very stout man." / "Bless you, Mr. Simple, why don't you understand English. I mean that he's the greatest liar that ever walked a deck.[…]"1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XII, in Peter Simple. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 190:
A bouncy castle.
A kind of seat mounted in a framework in which a baby can bounce up and down.
- He shook his head and took up the child—Dilly kicked out her feet in tiny electric jolts to the full stretch of the Babygro.[…]He put the child in the bouncer again.2019, Kevin Barry, Night Boat to Tangier, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, pages 82–83:
- Noting a shop where goods are piled on the counter, or within reach, a man goes in called a bouncer, and generally asks to look at some handkerchiefs, selecting a time when there is only one shopman in the way, breakfast-time for instance; whilst this is going on, a well-dressed youth comes in with a blue bag in his hand, asking for shoe-ties, or some trifling article. Now the work begins; […]1832, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 6, page 478:
- Derived terms
- baby bouncer, bouncerly, shop-bouncer