leap
verbnounadjectivenouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom/[ˈlɪi̯p]/
- //ˈliːp//
- //ˈlɛp//
To jump.
verb
- 1
To jump.
It is grete nede a man to go bak to recouer the better his leep
I, I defie thee: wert not thou next him when he leapt into the Riuer?
Th’ infernal monarch rear’d his horrid head, Leapt from his throne, lest Neptune’s arm should lay His dark dominions open to the day.
“See you, one should not ask for outside proof—no, reason should be enough. But the flesh is weak, it is consolation to find that one is on the right track. Ah, my friend, I am like a giant refreshed. I run! I leap!” And, in very truth, run and leap he did, gambolling wildly down the stretch of lawn outside the long window.
- 2
To pass over by a leap or jump.
to leap a wall or a ditch
Deep folly! yet that this could be— That I could wing my will with might To leap the grades of life and light, And flash at once, my friend, to thee: […]
- 3
archaicTo copulate with (a female beast)
- 4
archaicTo copulate with (a human)
go leap her, and engender young devilings
- 5
To cause to leap.
to leap a horse across a ditch
Etymology
From Middle English lepen, from Old English hlēapan, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaupan, from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną. Doublet of lope, lowp, elope, gallop, galop, interlope, and loop. Cognate with North Frisian laap, luup, luupe (“to jog, run, walk”), Saterland Frisian lope, loope (“to run”), West Frisian ljeppe (“to jump”), Dutch lopen (“to run; to walk”), German laufen (“to run; to walk”), Limburgish loupe (“to jog, run, walk”), Low German lopen, loupen (“to run”), Luxembourgish lafen (“to run”), Vilamovian łaojfa (“to run”), Danish løbe (“to run”), Faroese leypa (“to jump”), Icelandic hlaupa (“to run; to jump”), Norwegian Bokmål løpe (“to run”), Norwegian Nynorsk laupa, laupe, løpa, løpe (“to run”), Swedish löpa (“to run”), from Proto-Indo-European *klewb- (“to spring, stumble”) (compare Lithuanian šlùbti ‘to become lame’, klùbti ‘to stumble’).
noun
- 1
The act of leaping or jumping.
He made a leap across the river.
Leaps from one Extream to Another , are Unnatural Motions in the Course of our lives and Humours
1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics Changes of tone may proceed either by leaps or glides.
- 2
The distance traversed by a leap or jump.
- 3
A group of leopards.
Manikanta returned to the palace riding on a royal tiger accompanied by a leap of leopards to the utter surprise of the inhabitants of Pantalam.
I can see it now... a leap of Leopards eating the carcass of a Longhorn out in the Vista....
Without the Chop Chop Chop Chop Cowville seems almost normal: no hover of helicopters, no leap of leopards.
I felt like the only one of my kind, and all around me were the other kids in their groups like herds of wildebeests and prides of lions and crashes of rhinos and unkindnesses of ravens and leaps of leopards and wrecks of sea hawks.
- 4
figurativeA significant move forward.
That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.
Since the arrival of mainstream pornography platforms in the early 2000’s and the rise in smartphone use, online pornography consumption has shown considerable year on year leaps.
- 5
figurativeA large step in reasoning, often one that is not justified by the facts.
It's quite a leap to claim that those cloud formations are evidence of UFOs.
- 6
A fault.
- 7
Copulation (by a male animal) with a female one.
Much difference of opinion exists as to the number of bullings a cow should receive. Here, I think, good judgment should be used. If the bull is cool and quiet, and some time has intervened since he had his last cow, one good leap is better than more […]
- 8
A passing from one note to another by an interval, especially by a long one, or by one including several other intermediate intervals.
- 9
A small cataract over which fish attempt to jump; a salmon ladder.
[…] where the Esk divides it in the middle, and forms a linn or leap, is named the How burn; […]
adjective
- 1
Intercalary, bissextile.
noun
- 1
A trap or snare for fish, made from twigs; a weely.
- 2
Half a bushel.
Etymology
From Middle English lep, from Old English lēap (“basket”), from Proto-West Germanic *laup, from Proto-Germanic *laupaz (“container, basket”). Cognate with Icelandic laupur (“basket”).
Forms
- plural
- leaps
- past tense
- leaped, leapt, lept, lope
- past participle
- leaped, leapt, lept, lope, lopen
- present participle
- leaping
- third person singular
- leaps