[leep] 
verb, leaped or leapt, leap⋅ing, noun | 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| leap (lēp) v. leaped or leapt (lěpt, lēpt), leap·ing, leaps v. intr.
[Middle English lepen, from Old English hlēapan.] leap'er n. |
by leaps and bounds
Rapidly, or in fast progress, as in The corn is growing by leaps and bounds, or School enrollment is increasing by leaps and bounds. This term is a redundancy, since leap and bound both mean "spring" or "jump," but the two words have been paired since Shakespeare's time and are still so used.