French word

rebondir

Pronunciation

IPA/ʁəbɔ̃diʁ/

Meaning

  • verbbounce

Example

La balle rebondit sur le mur.

The ball bounced off the wall.

Illustration for rebondir (bounce)

More examples

Elle a su rebondir après son échec.

She managed to recover after her failure.

Core concept

A ball hits a wall and springs away, like a person quickly regaining momentum after a setback.

Common phrases

  • faire rebondir

    make ___ bounce

  • rebondir contre

    bounce off ___

  • rebondir après

    recover after ___

Similar words

sauter: Leave the ground and rise into the air by jumping.
bondir: Spring high upward with great energy.
se remettre: Return to good health or recover from discouragement.
se relever: Stand again after falling or recover from failure.

Definition in French

Reprendre un mouvement en rebondissant après un contact avec une surface ; au sens figuré, retrouver rapidement force ou succès après un revers.

Word origin

Rebondir combines the prefix re- with Old French bondir, meaning to jump, so it expresses jumping back or again.

Usage tips

  • For a physical bounce, rebondir commonly takes sur, as in La balle rebondit sur le mur, while the figurative sense often takes après un revers.

Other meanings

  • bounce backverb

Opposites

  • s'effondrercollapseverb
  • s'écrasercrashverb

Related words

  • rebondreboundnoun
  • rebondissementsudden turnnoun
  • rebondissantbouncyadjective

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