What does "leap" mean?
The act of leaping or jumping.
Leap
/liːp/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of leaping or jumping.
- Grammar: leap is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: bound, jump, spring, accept.
- Useful contrasts: crawl, creep, dawdle.
- Usage evidence: I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.
How to use "leap"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "leap" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "leap" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "leap" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "leap" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "leap" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bound" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "leap", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of leaping or jumping.
"He made a leap across the river."
- 2 A trap or snare for fish, made from twigs; a weely.
- 3 a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards wordnet
- 4 The distance traversed by a leap or jump.
- 5 Half a bushel.
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 the distance leaped (or to be leaped) wordnet
- 7 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."
- 8 an abrupt transition wordnet
- 9 A significant move forward. figuratively
"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."
- 10 a sudden and decisive increase wordnet
- 11 A large step in reasoning, often one that is not justified by the facts. figuratively
"It's quite a leap to claim that those cloud formations are evidence of UFOs."
- 12 A fault.
- 13 Copulation with, or coverture of, a female beast.
"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 […]"
- 14 A passing from one note to another by an interval, especially by a long one, or by one including several other intermediate intervals.
- 15 A small cataract over which fish attempt to jump; a salmon ladder.
"He unfortunately persevered, and the cot veered round towards the fall of the leap, and was running fast towards the rapids, when Mr. Craven lost his self-possession, and jumped out to gain a rock within a length of him, but did not succe[e]d, and he sunk in a part of the river over the leap called the dancing-hole, from which he was never more seen to rise. The cot was dashed with violence against another rock […]"
Verb
- 1 To jump. intransitive
"It is grete nede a man to go bak to recouer the better his leep"
- 2 pass abruptly from one state or topic to another wordnet
- 3 To pass over by a leap or jump. transitive
"to leap a wall or a ditch"
- 4 move forward by leaps and bounds wordnet
- 5 To copulate with (a female beast) archaic, transitive
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 cause to jump or leap wordnet
- 7 To copulate with (a human) archaic
"go leap her, and engender young devilings"
- 8 jump down from an elevated point wordnet
- 9 To cause to leap. transitive
"to leap a horse across a ditch"
Adjective
- 1 Intercalary, bissextile. not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 Initialism of Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 2 A surname.
- 3 A solution stack consisting of the Linux operating system, Eucalyptus cloud, AppScale cloud computing framework, and Python programming language.
Example
"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "leap"?
Common synonyms include: bound, jump, spring, accept, access, accession.
How do you use "leap" in a sentence?
I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.
How do you pronounce "leap"?
Pronounced /liːp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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’).
Etymology 2
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”).
Etymology 3
Scottish and English surname, from the noun leap (“basket”). Compare Leeper.