pouncet box

[ poun-sit ]

noun

1. a small perfume box with a perforated lid.

pouncet box

/ ˈpaʊnsɪt /

noun

1. a box with a perforated top used for containing perfume

Word History and Origins

Origin of pouncet box¹

1590–1600; pounce ² or pounce ³ + -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of pouncet box¹

C16 pouncet, perhaps alteration of pounced punched, perforated; see pounce ¹

Example Sentences

A pouncet box, which ever and anon He gave his nose.

From Project Gutenberg

“Yes, she’s a jolly nuisance sometimes,” said Lord Artingale, but only to evoke a pitying smile from Mr Perry-Morton, who, in spite of the decidedly annoyed looks of Cynthia and her lover, leaned his arm upon the carriage-door, and began talking to Julia, making James Magnus look like Harry Hotspur must have appeared when the “certain lord” came to him, holding the “pouncet box, which ever and anon he gave his nose.”

From Project Gutenberg

As to the coming of the agate and the pouncet box, the minds of the boys were very hazy.

From Project Gutenberg

They knew that the pouncet box had been conveyed through the attendants of the Abbot of Beaulieu, but they were only sure that from that time the belief had prevailed with their mother that her brother was prospering in the house of the all-powerful Wolsey.

From Project Gutenberg

The rosary and agate might have been picked up in an ecclesiastical household, and the lid of the pouncet box was made of a Spanish coin, likely to have come through some of the attendants of Queen Katharine.

From Project Gutenberg