bouncer
(ˈbaʊnsə(r))
[f. bounce v. + -er1.]
1. One who bounces (sense 4 of the vb.).
| 1762 Foote Lyar iii. (1776) 56 Nor is the character of my son to be blasted with the breath of a bouncer. 1776 in Priv. Lett. 1st Ld. Malmesbury I. 351 The Nabob, the greatest Bouncer of all those Bouncers, comes out of gaol. 1876 World No. 115. 20 The old maid..does not stand the slightest chance unless she be of the gushing bouncer class. |
2. a. A boaster, bully, swaggering liar. b. in Thieves' slang (see quot. 1862).
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxi, He's a..kind fellow enough, but..Such a bouncer! 1862 Mayhew Crim. Prisons 46 Bouncers and besters who cheat by laying wagers. |
3. A ‘bouncing’ or ‘thumping’ lie.
| 1805 G. Colman J. Bull ii. iii. (L.) You know..what a bouncer you told me. |
4. A large specimen of its kind; a ‘thumper’.
| 1842 De Quincey in Blackw. Mag. July 127/2 The stone must be a bouncer. 1872 H. W. Taunt Map Thames 15 See, I've got a roach, and a bouncer. Colloq. She was a bouncer. |
5. One engaged to eject undesirable or unruly persons from a saloon, ballroom, etc.; a ‘chucker-out’. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1865 Nat. Police Gaz. (U.S.) 29 Apr. 4/2 Old Moyamensing is almost as famous for its lawless gangs of boys and young men, as it was in the days of the ‘killers’ and ‘bouncers’. 1883 Daily News 26 July 4/8 The Bouncer..is merely the English ‘chucker out’. When liberty verges on licence and gaiety on wanton delirium, the Bouncer selects the gayest of the gay, and—bounces him. 1888 A. C. Gunter Mr. Potter xx, Several of the fighting brigade of the establishment, that in American slang would be termed ‘bouncers’. 1903 A. Adams Log Cowboy xiii. 204 The bouncer of the dance hall of course had his eye on our crowd. 1938 Wodehouse Summer Moonshine i. 19 He held down a job for a time as bouncer at some bar. 1961 Evening Standard 21 Aug. 12/6 Bouncers required for dance Sat. evenings. |
6. A ball that bounces high; spec. in Cricket, one that rises sharply off the pitch.
| 1913 Cricket 305/2 Every bowler pitches short sometimes, and when..he does so the resultant..‘bouncer’..is no more than an ordinary risk. 1955 Times 24 June 14/1 Heine's first ball, a bouncer, was as the drawing of a sword. |