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leap

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leap

  [leep] verb, leaped or leapt, leap⋅ing, noun
Use leap in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
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)
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:
bef. 900; ME lepen, OE hlēapan to leap, run; c. G laufen, ON hlaupa, Goth hlaupan

Related forms:
leaper, noun

Synonyms:
1. bound. See jump.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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leap   (lēp)   
v.   leaped or leapt (lěpt, lēpt), leap·ing, leaps

v.   intr.

  1. To spring or bound upward from or as if from the ground; jump: leaped over the wall; salmon leaping upriver.

    1. To move quickly or abruptly from one condition or subject to another: always leaping to conclusions.

    2. To act impulsively: leaped at the opportunity to travel.

v.   tr.

  1. To jump over: couldn't leap the brook.

  2. To cause to leap: leap a horse over a hurdle.

n.  

    1. The act of leaping; a jump.

    2. A place jumped over or from.

    3. The distance cleared in a leap.

  2. An abrupt or precipitous passage, shift, or transition: a leap from rags to riches.


[Middle English lepen, from Old English hlēapan.]
leap'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

leap  (v.)
O.E. hleapan "to jump, run, leap" (class VII strong verb; past tense hleop, pp. hleapen), from P.Gmc. *khlaupan (cf. O.S. hlopan, O.N. hlaupa, O.Fris. hlapa, Du. lopen, Ger. laufen "to run," Goth. us-hlaupan "to jump up"), of uncertain origin, with no known cognates beyond Germanic. The noun is O.E. hlyp (Anglian *hlep). Leap year (M.E.) so called from its causing fixed festival days to "leap" ahead one day in the week. Leap-frog, the children's game, is attested from 1599.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

LEAP
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).

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

leap

In addition to the idioms beginning with leap, also see by leaps and bounds; look before you leap; quantum leap. Also see under jump.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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