Rebound (disambiguation)

Note that there are two homographs rebound.

• There is a verb whose base form is rebound, with past forms rebounded. This is a derivative of the verb 'to bound', which itself can be confused (see Bind - bound - bounded). The meaning relevant to rebound is OED's v.²): 'to jump up' or 'along'. This can be literal; a ball thrown down on the floor, or against a wall, will rebound, or 'bounce back'; footballs quite often rebound from goalposts. (Note that despite the coincidence of their first five letters, no etymological connection is recorded by OED between bounce and bound.) Rebound can also be used figuratively, as when a person can rebound (or 'bounce back') from a shock or disappointment: a fighter may rebound from a defeat to achieve a more decisive victory in the next fight, or a student who does weakly in the first year exams may rebound to a triumph in the second year. In a slightly different sense, when a man insults you, if you are dignified enough, his insults cast at you may rebound [back] upon him.

This rebound can also be - and historically has been - confused with redound - see rebound - redound.

• • The related noun can mean either 'an example of [something] rebounding', literally, for example when a footballer scores on the rebound, or figuratively - particularly in the social field, when - at least colloquially - it means a new relationship formed (often not wisely) when an old relationship is ended, and the person may be confused or unhappy: "She began an unhappy three months when she fell for Alan on the rebound from John with whom she had been for four years."
• The other current rebound (= 're-bound') is the past form of the irregular verb 'to bind' (bind | bound | bound). Not surprisingly, it means 'bind again', and is particularly applied to a [hardback] book which has its binding replaced or repaired.