leap

[leep] /lip/
verb (used without object), leaped or leapt, leaping.
1.
to spring through the air from one point or position to another; jump:
to leap over a ditch.
2.
to move or act quickly or suddenly:
to leap aside; She leaped at the opportunity.
3.
to pass, come, rise, etc., as if with a jump:
to leap to a conclusion; an idea that immediately leaped to mind.
verb (used with object), leaped or leapt, leaping.
4.
to jump over:
to leap a fence.
5.
to pass over as if by a jump.
6.
to cause to leap:
to leap a horse.
noun
7.
a spring, jump, or bound; a light, springing movement.
8.
the distance covered in a leap; distance jumped.
9.
a place leaped or to be leaped over or from.
10.
a sudden or abrupt transition:
a successful leap from piano class to concert hall.
11.
a sudden and decisive increase:
a leap in the company's profits.
Idioms
12.
by leaps and bounds, very rapidly:
We are progressing by leaps and bounds.
13.
leap in the dark, an action of which the consequences are unknown:
The experiment was a leap in the dark.
14.
leap of faith, an act or instance of accepting or trusting in something that cannot readily be seen or proved.
Origin
before 900; Middle English lepen, Old English hlēapan to leap, run; cognate with German laufen, Old Norse hlaupa, Gothic hlaupan
Related forms
leaper, noun
Synonyms
1. bound. See jump.
Examples from the web for leap
  • They could now leap from a world of cash to cellular banking.
  • The system resets every leap year, slipping a little bit backward until corrected by a century where no leap year is celebrated.
  • Not since the age of dinosaurs has the world known a roach with a vertical leap.
  • Grafted roses leap out of the ground their first year.
  • Soldiers can't leap tall buildings in a single bound, yet.
  • My question is for those of you who have made the leap out of academia.
  • But further progress through successful application will result in a quantum leap in technology.
  • Navy has been pursuing a workable ray gun that could provide a leap ahead in ship self-defenses.
  • Maybe the next evolutionary leap will not even be organic.
  • It is one small step for science education, and one giant leap for monster kind.
British Dictionary definitions for leap

leap

/liːp/
verb leaps, leaping, leapt, leaped
1.
(intransitive) to jump suddenly from one place to another
2.
(intransitive) often foll by at. to move or react quickly
3.
(transitive) to jump over
4.
to come into prominence rapidly: the thought leapt into his mind
5.
(transitive) to cause (an animal, esp a horse) to jump a barrier
noun
6.
the act of jumping
7.
a spot from which a leap was or may be made
8.
the distance of a leap
9.
an abrupt change or increase
10.
(music) Also called (US and Canadian) skip. a relatively large melodic interval, esp in a solo part
11.
a leap in the dark, an action performed without knowledge of the consequences
12.
by leaps and bounds, with unexpectedly rapid progress
Derived Forms
leaper, noun
Word Origin
Old English hlēapan; related to Gothic hlaupan, German laufen
Word Origin and History for leap
v.

c.1200, from Old English hleapan "to jump, run, leap" (class VII strong verb; past tense hleop, past participle hleapen), from Proto-Germanic *khlaupan (cf. Old Saxon hlopan, Old Norse hlaupa, Old Frisian hlapa, Dutch lopen, Old High German hlouffan, German laufen "to run," Gothic us-hlaupan "to jump up"), of uncertain origin, with no known cognates beyond Germanic. Leap-frog, the children's game, is attested by that name from 1590s; figurative use by 1704.

First loke and aftirward lepe [proverb recorded from mid-15c.]
Related: Leaped; leaping.

n.

c.1200, from Old English hliep, hlyp (West Saxon), *hlep (Mercian, Northumbrian) "a leap, bound, spring, sudden movement; thing to leap from;" common Germanic (cf. Old Frisian hlep, Dutch loop, Old High German hlouf, German lauf); from the root of leap (v.). Leaps has been paired with bounds since at least 1720.

leap in Technology


Language for the Expression of Associative Procedures.
ALGOL-based formalism for sets and associative retrieval, for TX-2. Became part of SAIL.
"An ALGOL-based Associative Language", J.A. Feldman et al, CACM 12(8):439-449 (Aug 1969).

Idioms and Phrases with leap

leap

also see:
also see under:
jump