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Webster 1913 Edition

Flounce

Flounce

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Flounced
(flounst)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Flouncing
.]
[Cf. OSw.
flunsa
to immerge.]
To throw the limbs and body one way and the other; to spring, turn, or twist with sudden effort or violence; to struggle, as a horse in mire; to flounder; to throw one’s self with a jerk or spasm, often as in displeasure.
To flutter and
flounce
will do nothing but batter and bruise us.
Barrow.
With his broad fins and forky tail he laves
The rising sirge, and
flounces
in the waves.
Addison.

Flounce

,
Noun.
The act of floucing; a sudden, jerking motion of the body.

Flounce

,
Noun.
[Cf. G.
flaus
,
flausch
, a tuft of wool or hair; akin to
vliess
, E.
fleece
; or perh. corrupted fr.
rounce
.]
An ornamental appendage to the skirt of a woman's dress, consisting of a strip gathered and sewed on by its upper edge around the skirt, and left hanging.

Flounce

,
Verb.
T.
To deck with a flounce or flounces;
as, to
flounce
a petticoat or a frock
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Flounce

FLOUNCE

,
Verb.
I.
flouns. [See Flounder.]
1.
To throw the limbs and body one way and the other; to spring, turn or twist with sudden effort or violence; to struggle as a horse in mire.
You neither fume, not fret, not flounce.
2.
To move with jerks or agitation.

FLOUNCE

,
Verb.
T.
To deck with a flounce; as, to flounce a petticoat or frock.

FLOUNCE

,
Noun.
A narrow piece of cloth sewed to a petticoat, frock or gown, with the lower border loose and spreading. The present is the age of flounces. 1827.

Definition 2024

flounce

flounce

English

Verb

flounce ‎(third-person singular simple present flounces, present participle flouncing, simple past and past participle flounced)

  1. To move in an exaggerated, bouncy manner.
  2. (archaic) To flounder; to make spastic motions.
    • Barrow
      To flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us.
    • Addison
      With his broad fins and forky tail he laves / The rising surge, and flounces in the waves.
  3. To decorate with a flounce.
  4. To leave a group dramatically, in a way that draws attention to oneself.
    After failing to win the leadership election, he flounced dramatically.
    • 2002 September 9, PButler111, “Re: OT - Sept. 11th?”, in alt.fan.barry-manilow, Usenet:
      You got your ass kicked and instead of admitting you might have made a mistake, you flounced.
    • 2012 August 7, Gaby Hinsliff, “The lessons of Louise Mensch's departure? There are none”, in The Guardian:
      But love Mensch or hate her, don't buy the line that she merely got bored and flounced: for whatever else she achieved in politics, she was never exactly stuck for ways to make it interesting.

Translations

Noun

flounce ‎(plural flounces)

  1. (sewing) A strip of decorative material, usually pleated, attached along one edge; a ruffle.W
    • 1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, Part II, chapter4:
      Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.
  2. The act of flouncing.

Derived terms

Translations

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /flaʊns/
  • Rhymes: -aʊns

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