rebound

Etymology 1

From Old French rebondir.

noun

1. The recoil of an object bouncing off another.
2. A return to health or well-being; a recovery.
   I am on the rebound.
3. An effort to recover from a setback.
4. (colloquial) The period of getting over a recently ended romantic relationship.
   I get it. Girl caught him on the rebound when he was vulnerable. 4 April 2014, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Friday, Apr 4, 2014
5. (colloquial) A romantic partner with whom one begins a relationship (or the relationship one begins) for the sake of getting over a previous, recently ended romantic relationship.
   What if she was a rebound after all and he didn't feel the same way for her anymore? 2008, Craig Ainsworth, Proceed with Caution: Life's a Journey, page 96
   Nika was dealt a terrible blow in finding she was a rebound and that Steve was still madly in love with his ex and that their love affair was sparked out of retaliation[.] 2009, Kenny Attaway, Nuthouse Love, page 154
   Sure, he was a rebound, but he was a respectable rebound. Then, the rebound broke up with me. 2010, Joan Moran, Sixty, Sex, & Tango: Confessions of a Beatnik Boomer, page 43
6. (sports) The strike of the ball after it has bounced off a defending player or the crossbar or goalpost.
   The inevitable Baggies onslaught followed as substitute Simon Cox saw his strike excellently parried by keeper Bunn, with Cox heading the rebound down into the ground and agonisingly over the bar. December 28, 2010, Kevin Darling, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC
7. (basketball) An instance of catching the ball after it has hit the rim or backboard without a basket being scored, generally credited to a particular player.

verb

1. To bound or spring back from a force.
   Martin Kelly fired in a dangerous cross and the Hearts defender looked on in horror as the ball rebounded off him and into the net. August 23, 2012, Alasdair Lamont, “Hearts 0-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
2. To give back an echo.
   each cave and echoing rock rebounds a. 1714, Alexander Pope, Autumn
3. (figurative) To jump up or get back up again.
4. (transitive) To send back; to reverberate.

Etymology 2

see rebind

verb

1. simple past and past participle of rebind