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bounce back

B1 informal intransitive
In simple words

To get better again after something bad happened to you, like a ball bouncing back up after hitting the floor.

Literal meaning: For a ball or object to rebound back to its original position after hitting a surface.

Meanings

1 B1 idiomatic informal

To recover one's health, spirits, or strength after an illness, injury, or emotional difficulty.

"She bounced back remarkably quickly after her surgery and was back at work within two weeks."

"I've had to bounce back from adversity many times in my life."

— Serena Williams, interview with BBC Sport, 2018
2 B1 idiomatic neutral

For a business, economy, or team to recover from a period of poor performance.

"The company bounced back after a difficult first quarter, posting record profits by December."

3 B1 neutral

For an email or message to be returned to the sender because it could not be delivered.

"My email bounced back with an error message saying the address no longer existed."

Usage notes

Very positive and optimistic in tone. Widely used in sports commentary, business, health, and personal development contexts. The phrase emphasizes resilience and speed of recovery.

Commonly used with

quickly strongly economy career health team sales

Forms

Base
bounce back
I/you/we/they
3rd person
bounces back
he/she/it
Past simple
bounced back
yesterday
Past participle
bounced back
have + pp
-ing form
bouncing back
continuous

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Synonyms

recover rebound rally come back pick yourself up get back on your feet

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