leap
/liːp
/verb (past or past participle leaped /liːpt/ /lɛpt/ or chiefly British leapt /lɛpt/) [no object, with adverbial]
1Jump or spring a long way, to a great height, or with great force: he leapt on to the parapet figurative Fabia’s heart leapt excitedly...
- He scanned the crowd and his heart leapt excitedly when he spotted her.
- His heart leaped and he jumped out of his bed, ran across his room and slammed his door.
- On the night Joe died, they found the ladders partly pulled down, despite them normally being pushed up at a height only accessible by leaping up a nearby wall.
1.1 [with object] Jump across: Peter leapt the last few stairs...
- He then leapt a fence and galloped over the hill deep into the field.
- We heard raucous laughter and audible thuds as people leapt the fence into the yard.
- The woman was sometimes caught or confronted on properties or in her victim's homes but always made a getaway, once through a hole in a hedge and on another occasion by leaping a fence.
2Move quickly and suddenly: Polly leapt to her feet...
- With that, he had leapt quickly forward and landed a quick punch to Cyrus's side that Cyrus couldn't quite follow.
- The surprised lord quickly leapt forward to catch his wife before she hurt her herself.
- Quickly I leapt to my feet and grabbed her before she even thought of doing something stupid.
Synonyms
spring, jump, jump up, bound, dart;
lunge
2.1Make a sudden rush to do something; act eagerly and suddenly: everybody leapt into action...
- Although some bird-lovers have leapt to their defence, there is an undeniably anti-social element among the pigeon fraternity.
- But friends and colleagues leapt to his defence, insisting they had issued a public thank you for his rescue.
- It's that sad old bunch of ex-something-or-others who have leapt to her defence in recent days.
Synonyms
rush, hurry, hasten, hurtle
arrive at hastily, reach hurriedly, come to overhastily, form hastily, hurry, hasten, jump, rush, reach
2.2 (leap at) Accept (an opportunity) eagerly: they leapt at the opportunity to combine fun with fund-raising...
- When asked by one of its key suppliers to develop their website, staff leapt at the chance.
- When the university approached Uncle Sam about the idea of an alumni center, he leaped at the opportunity.
- She leaped at the opportunity and became one of only two women investment bankers on a staff of 150.
Synonyms
accept eagerly, grasp, grasp with both hands, grab, take advantage of, seize (on), snatch, jump at, pounce on
2.3(Of a price, amount, etc.) increase dramatically: sales leapt by a third last year...
- The money will help first-time buyers who have watched the asking prices of houses leap 14 per cent in the past 12 months.
- High-end home prices have leapt 56 per cent in the past nine months.
- Petrol stations in some cities are rationing diesel, with prices leaping on the black market, according to official reports.
Synonyms
increase rapidly, soar, rocket, skyrocket, shoot up, escalate, mount, surge, spiral, grow rapidly, rise rapidly
2.4 (leap out) (Especially of writing) be conspicuous; stand out: amid the notes, a couple of items leap out...
- There wasn't one that leapt out at me like with the A and B sets, and the CD didn't help too much.
noun
1A forceful jump or quick movement: she came downstairs in a series of flying leaps...
- In a quick leap, he had jumped from the veranda and had sped off into the field after me.
- In one quick, strong leap, her horse jumped, high, long & hard.
- But secondly, this increasing resolution of the project is visible as a series of jumps or leaps.
Synonyms
jump, vault, spring, bound, hop, skip;
Ballet entrechat
rare curvet
1.1A dramatic increase in price, amount, etc. a leap of 75 per cent in two years...
- It said a huge leap in coal prices and higher freight charges offset an increase in local power sales.
- This article on energy policy shows that fuel shortages and price leaps are almost entirely created by government meddling.
- When the whole chain works in sync, there can be a dramatic leap in the speed and efficiency of product development…
Synonyms
sudden rise, rapid increase, escalation, soaring, surge, upsurge, upswing, upturn;
increment, elevation;
revival
1.2A sudden abrupt change or transition: it doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to recognize that you have held an important leadership role...
- We passed whole aeons of evolutionary progress in great leaps, seemingly overnight.
- That's the leap of imagination that's necessary for faith - or even for a fully informed discussion of faith, even if one does not have faith oneself.
- Grand schemes, wild ideas, crazy notions, and intuitive leaps of imagination are, of course, encouraged and fertilized.
1.3 [in place names] A thing to be leaped over or from: Lover’s Leap...
- If you've been to Lover's Leap, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
2 rare A group of leopards: we stopped to photograph a leap of leopards...
- We saw herds of elephants, impala, water buffalo, antelope, and a leap of leopards.
- Bandhavgarh National Park boasts one of the highest densities of Bengal tiger in the world, along with a breeding leap of leopards.
- The department received numerous complaints over several weeks of a leap of leopards prowling the area.
Phrases
a leap in the dark
by (or in) leaps and bounds
leap to the eye
leap to conclusions
Derivatives
leaper
- They are good leapers and tree climbers.
- A sap-sucking bug that coats plants with wads of foamy spit has been crowned the insect world's greatest leaper.
Origin
Old English hlēapan (verb), hlȳp (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lopen, German laufen (verb), and Dutch loop, German Lauf (noun), all meaning 'run', also to lope.
Rhymes
- sub-praefect
- subpreceptor
- subpredicate
- sub-prefect
- sub-prefectorial
- sub-prefecture
- subprimal
- sub-prime
- subprincipal
- subprior
- sub-prioress
- subprocess
- subprogram
- subprogramme
- sub-protector
- subprovince
- sub-provincial
- subpunctuation
- sub-purchaser
- sub-quality
- sub-race
- subradius
- subrange
- subrational
- subrecent