leap Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
    spring; leaping; bounce; bound; saltation.
  2. noun an abrupt transition
    jump; saltation.
    • a successful leap from college to the major leagues
  3. noun a sudden and decisive increase
    jump.
    • a jump in attendance
  4. noun the distance leaped (or to be leaped)
    • a leap of 10 feet
  5. verb move forward by leaps and bounds
    jump; spring; bound.
    • The horse bounded across the meadow
    • The child leapt across the puddle
    • Can you jump over the fence?
  6. verb pass abruptly from one state or topic to another
    jump.
    • leap into fame
    • jump to a conclusion
    • jump from one thing to another
  7. verb jump down from an elevated point
    jump; jump off.
    • the parachutist didn't want to jump
    • every year, hundreds of people jump off the Golden Gate bridge
    • the widow leapt into the funeral pyre
  8. verb cause to jump or leap
    jump.
    • the trainer jumped the tiger through the hoop

WordNet

Leap noun
Etymology
AS. leáp.
Definitions
  1. A basket. Obs. Wyclif.
  2. A weel or wicker trap for fish. Prov. Eng.
Leap intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. lepen, leapen, AS. hleápan to leap, jump, run; akin to OS. ahlpan, OFries. hlapa, D. loopen, G. laufen, OHG. louffan, hlauffan, Icel. hlaupa, Sw. löpa, Dan. löbe, Goth. ushlaupan. Cf. Elope, Lope, Lapwing, Loaf to loiter.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Leaped rarely Leapt; present participle & verbal noun Leaping
Definitions
  1. To spring clear of the ground, with the feet; to jump; to vault; as, a man leaps over a fence, or leaps upon a horse. Bacon.
    Leap in with me into this angry flood. Shak.
  2. To spring or move suddenly, as by a jump or by jumps; to bound; to move swiftly. Also Fig.
    My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky. Wordsworth.
Leap transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pass over by a leap or jump; as, to leap a wall, or a ditch.
  2. To copulate with (a female beast); to cover.
  3. To cause to leap; as, to leap a horse across a ditch.
Leap noun
Definitions
  1. The act of leaping, or the space passed by leaping; a jump; a spring; a bound.
    Wickedness comes on by degrees, . . . and sudden leaps from one extreme to another are unnatural. L'Estrange.
    Changes of tone may proceed either by leaps or glides. H. Sweet.
  2. Copulation with, or coverture of, a female beast.
  3. (Mining) A fault.
  4. (Mus.) A passing from one note to another by an interval, especially by a long one, or by one including several other and intermediate intervals.

Webster 1913