# leap

Pronunciation: say "LEEP" US /lip/, UK /liːp/

## Verb

1. To jump, especially with force or across a distance.
   - Simple: To jump up into the air or forward off the ground.
   - _Dancers leap across the floor in perfect unison._
   - _He leaped from the dock into the cold lake._
4. To get past something by jumping over it.
   - Simple: To jump over something.
   - _The runner leaped the final hurdle and crossed the line._
   - _Mountain goats leap gaps that would stop most other animals._
6. To make someone or something jump.
   - Simple: To make a person or animal jump.
   - _Experienced jockeys leap their mounts over towering fences._
   - _He wanted to leap the dog across the gap to test its nerve._

## Noun

2. An act of jumping, propelling the body off the ground.
   - Simple: A jump up or forward off the ground.
   - _The gymnast's leap drew applause from the crowd._
   - _A single leap carried the deer over the stream._
3. A significant advance or step forward in progress or development.
   - Simple: A big and important step forward in progress.
   - _The discovery marked a remarkable leap in our understanding of genetics._
   - _Her promotion was a major leap forward in her career._
5. The distance covered in a single jump.
   - Simple: How far someone or something jumps.
   - _The athlete's record leap stunned the judges._
   - _A leap of three meters cleared the entire sandpit._
7. A large jump in reasoning, often one the available facts don't actually support.
   - Simple: A big jump in thinking that the facts may not support.
   - _Concluding sabotage from a single error is a leap unsupported by evidence._
   - _Her argument took a leap that the data simply couldn't justify._
9. A move from one musical note to another across an interval, especially a wide one that skips over the notes in between.
   - Simple: A move from one note to another that is far away, skipping the notes in between.
   - _The melody opens with a dramatic leap of an octave._
   - _Her voice handled the upward leap without any strain._
10. A small cataract or waterfall over which fish attempt to jump on their way upstream; a salmon ladder.
   - Simple: A small waterfall that fish try to jump over as they swim up a river.
   - _Each autumn the salmon mass below the leap, hurling themselves upward against the falling water._
   - _A fish pass was installed beside the old leap to ease the upstream migration._
11. A group of leopards considered together as a unit.
   - Simple: A group of leopards living or seen together.
   - _A leap of leopards moved silently across the ridge at dusk._
   - _Naturalists counted a leap of seven animals patrolling the valley._
12. A fault; a break or dislocation in a vein or rock layer encountered in mining.
   - Simple: A break in rock layers where one side has shifted, found in mines.
   - _Surveyors mapped a leap that displaced the ore vein by nearly a meter._
   - _The seam vanished where a leap had shifted the surrounding rock._
13. The act of copulating with or covering a female animal.
   - Simple: The mating of a male animal with a female animal.
   - _The herdsman noted every leap in his ledger to track the breeding season._
   - _After the leap, the mare was turned out with the rest of the herd._
16. A wickerwork fish trap made from woven twigs, also known as a weely.
   - Simple: A trap for catching fish, woven from thin twigs.
   - _Each evening the fisherman lowered a leap into the current and checked it at dawn._
   - _The old leap, woven from willow, still held a few trout._
17. A unit of measure equal to half a bushel.
   - Simple: An old unit for measuring grain, fruit, and other dry goods, equal to half a bushel.
   - _The farmer set aside a leap of seed grain for the spring planting._
   - _Each tenant owed the manor a leap of wheat at harvest._

## Adjective

8. Of a year or month, containing an extra day or period inserted to keep the calendar aligned with the astronomical year.
   - Simple: Having an extra day or month added to keep the calendar in step with the seasons.
   - _A leap year adds February 29 to realign the calendar with Earth's orbit._
   - _The leap month in lunisolar calendars keeps the months synced with the seasons._

## Verb

14. Of a male animal, to copulate with or cover a female beast. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Of a male animal, to mate with a female.
   - _The keeper allowed the bull to leap the cow before winter set in._
   - _Each spring the boar would leap several sows in the yard._
15. To copulate with a person. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To have sex with a person.
   - _The satire accused the courtier of trying to leap every lady at the ball._
   - _Village rumor held that he would leap any willing lass._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–15** — From Middle English lepen, from Old English hlēapan, from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną. It is a doublet of lope, elope, and gallop, and is cognate with words such as Dutch lopen and German laufen ("to run"), tracing back to Proto-Indo-European *klewb- ("to spring, stumble").
**Meanings 16–17** — From Middle English lep, from Old English lēap ("basket"), from Proto-Germanic *laupaz ("container, basket"), cognate with Icelandic laupur ("basket").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/leap (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).