I. leap 1 /liːp/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle leapt /lept/ especially British English , leaped especially American English )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hleapan ]
1 . JUMP
a) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to jump high into the air or to jump in order to land in a different place:
She leapt over the fence.
The smaller animals can easily leap from tree to tree.
b) [transitive] literary to jump over something:
Brenda leaped the gate and ran across the field.
2 . MOVE FAST [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to move very quickly and with a lot of energy:
I leapt up the stairs three at a time.
He leapt out of bed.
She leapt to her feet (=stood up quickly) and started shouting.
3 . INCREASE [intransitive] to increase quickly and by a large amount OPP tumble
leap to
Profits leapt to £376m.
He leapt 27 places to second spot.
4 . leap at the chance/opportunity to accept an opportunity very eagerly:
I leapt at the chance of studying abroad.
5 . leap to sb’s defence British English , leap to sb’s defense American English to quickly defend someone:
When her younger brother was being bullied she leapt to his defence.
6 . HEART [intransitive] literary if your heart leaps, you feel a sudden surprise, happiness, or excitement:
My heart leaped when I saw Paul at the airport.
⇨ look before you leap at ↑ look 1 (12)
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THESAURUS
▪ jump verb [intransitive and transitive] to push yourself up into the air, over something etc, using your legs:
The cat jumped up onto the table.
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He jumped over the stream.
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His horse jumped the fence successfully.
▪ skip verb [intransitive] to move forwards with little jumps between your steps, especially because you are feeling happy:
The little girl was skipping down the street.
▪ hop verb [intransitive] to jump or move around on one leg:
He was hopping around because he’d injured his foot.
▪ leap verb [intransitive and transitive] especially written to suddenly jump up high or a long way:
The deer leapt over the fence.
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Tina leapt onto the boat as it was moving away.
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Fish were leaping out of the water.
▪ bounce verb [intransitive] to jump up and down several times, especially on something that has springs in it:
Children love bouncing on beds.
▪ dive verb [intransitive] to jump into water with your head and arms first:
Zoë dived into the swimming pool.
▪ vault /vɔːlt $ vɒːlt/ verb [intransitive and transitive] especially written to jump over something in one movement, using your hands or a pole to help you:
He vaulted the ticket barrier and ran for the exit.
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Ben tried to vault over the bar.
leap out at somebody phrasal verb
if a word or phrase in a piece of writing leaps out at you, you notice it particularly, because it is interesting, important etc SYN jump out at
II. leap 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a big jump SYN bound :
He threw a stick into the river and the dog went after it in a flying leap.
2 . a large increase or change
quantum/great/huge etc leap
a quantum leap (=very great increase or change) in population levels
leap in
a 16% leap in pre-tax profits
leap forward
the huge leap forward that took place in the 1980s
3 . by/in leaps and bounds if something increases, develops, grows etc by leaps and bounds, it does it very quickly:
Lifeboat technology has advanced by leaps and bounds.
4 . a leap of (the) imagination ( also an imaginative leap ) a mental process that is needed to understand something difficult or see the connection between two very different ideas
5 . leap in the dark something you do without knowing what will happen as a result
6 . leap of faith something you do even though it involves a risk, hoping that it will have a good result