AskDefine | Define leap

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Dictionary Definition

leap

Noun

1 a light springing movement upwards or forwards [syn: leaping, spring, saltation, bound, bounce]
2 an abrupt transition; "a successful leap from college to the major leagues" [syn: jump, saltation]
3 a sudden and decisive increase; "a jump in attendance" [syn: jump]
4 the distance leaped (or to be leaped); "a leap of 10 feet"

Verb

1 move forward by leaps and bounds; "The horse bounded across the meadow"; "The child leapt across the puddle"; "Can you jump over the fence?" [syn: jump, bound, spring]
2 pass abruptly from one state or topic to another; "leap into fame"; "jump to a conclusion" [syn: jump]
3 cause to jump or leap; "the trainer jumped the tiger through the hoop" [syn: jump] [also: leapt]

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Etymology

hleapan, from . Cognate with Dutch lopen, German laufen, Swedish löpa.

Pronunciation

  • , /liːp/, /li:p/

Verb

  1. To jump from one location to another.
    • anonymous, Merlin
      It is grete nede a man to go bak to recouer the better his leep
    • 1600, anonymous, The wisdome of Doctor Dodypoll, act 4
      I, I defie thee: wert not thou next him when he leapt into the Riuer?
    • 1783, Hugh Blair, from the “Illiad” in Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, lecture 4, page 65
      Th’ infernal monarch rear’d his horrid head, Leapt from his throne, lest Neptune’s arm should lay His dark dominions open to the day.
    • 1999, Ai, Vice: New & Selected Poems, page 78
      It is better to leap into the void.

Usage notes

The choice between leapt and leaped is mostly a matter of regional differences: leapt is preferred in British English and leaped in American English. According to research by John Algeo (British or American English?, Cambridge, 2006), leapt is used 80% of the time in UK and 32% in the US.

Synonyms

Translations

to jump from one location to another

Noun

  1. The act of leaping or jumping.
  2. The distance traversed by a leap or jump.
  3. A significant move forward.
    • 1969 July 20, Neil Armstrong, as he became the first man to step on the moon
      That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.

Translations

the act of leaping
distance traversed by a leap
significant move forward

Derived terms

Extensive Definition

wikt leap Leap may refer to:
LEAP may mean:
Leap in music:

See also

Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words

accept, access, accession, accretion, accrual, accruement, accumulation, addition, advance, aggrandizement, amount, amplification, anabasis, appreciation, ascension, ascent, augmentation, avant-propos, ballooning, bloating, boom, boost, bounce, bound, breakthrough, broadening, buck, buckjump, buildup, bundle, bustle, caesura, caliber, canter, caper, capriole, cavort, chase, clamber, clear, clearance, climb, climbing, coinage, compass, crescendo, crowd, curvet, cut, dance, dash, dash off, dash on, degree, development, discontinuity, discovery, distance between, double space, double-time, edema, elevation, em space, en space, enlargement, escalade, escalation, exordium, expansion, extension, extent, festinate, flood, foreword, fountain, fox-trot, freeboard, frisk, frolic, front matter, frontispiece, gain, gallop, gambol, get, get going, get moving, git, grade, greatening, growth, gush, gyring up, hair space, half space, hasten, height, hiatus, hightail, hike, hippety-hop, hop, hop along, hotfoot, hurdle, hurry, hurry on, hurry through, hurry up, hurry-scurry, hustle, increase, increment, inflation, innovation, interim, intermediate space, interruption, interspace, interstice, interval, introduction, invention, jet, jump, jump at, jump over, lacuna, leap over, leapfrog, leeway, level, levitation, lope, lose no time, make haste, make tracks, margin, mark, measure, mount, mounting, move quickly, multiplication, negotiate, neologism, new phase, notch, novelty, nuance, overjump, overleap, overskip, overture, pas, peg, period, pitch, plane, plateau, plunge, point, post, postulate, pounce, pounce on, pounce upon, prance, preamble, preface, prefix, prefixture, preliminary, prelude, premise, press on, presupposition, productiveness, proem, prolegomena, prolegomenon, prolepsis, proliferation, prologue, proportion, protasis, push on, quickly, race, raise, range, rapidly, ratio, reach, remove, rise, rising, rocketing up, romp, room, round, run, rung, rush, rush through, saltation, scale, scamper, scope, scramble, scurry, scuttle, shade, shadow, shooting up, single space, ski jump, skip, skip over, snowballing, soaring, space, space between, speedily, spout, spread, spring, sprint, spurt, stair, standard, start, start aside, start up, steeplechase, step, step along, step lively, stint, surge, swelling, swiftly, take, takeoff, taking off, tear, time interval, tread, trip, trot, tumescence, up, upclimb, upcoming, updive, updraft, upgang, upgo, upgoing, upgrade, upgrowth, uphill, upleap, uplift, upping, uprisal, uprise, uprising, uprush, upshoot, upslope, upspring, upsurge, upsurgence, upsweep, upswing, uptrend, upturn, vault, verse, voluntary, waxing, widening, zooming
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