When a basketball hits the rim or backboard and bounces away, that's a rebound. Players jump and reach to grab these loose balls, and catching rebounds is one of the most important skills in basketball. A player who consistently grabs rebounds helps their team get more chances to score or prevents the other team from scoring again.

The word comes from the idea of something bouncing back. A rubber ball rebounds off a wall. In a conversation, if someone makes a sharp comment and you immediately reply with an equally sharp response, your words rebound right back at them. When the economy struggles and then starts growing again, economists say it's rebounding.

Sometimes people talk about being “on the rebound” after a disappointment. This means they're bouncing back emotionally, trying to recover and move forward. It suggests they're still healing and might not be thinking clearly yet.

The word captures that sense of bouncing back after hitting something solid, whether it's a basketball returning to play, a person recovering from setbacks, or anything else that springs back after an impact.