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leaping - 3 dictionary results

leap

  [leep] verb, leaped or leapt, leap⋅ing, noun
Use leaping 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.
Cite This Source Link To leaping
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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Leaping

Leap"ing\, a. & n. from Leap, to jump.

Leaping house, a brothel. [Obs.] --Shak.

Leaping pole, a pole used in some games of leaping.

Leaping spider (Zo["o]l.), a jumping spider; one of the Saltigrad[ae].
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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