leap
leap
verb
/liːp/
1 intransitive, transitive to jump high or a long way
+ adv./prep. A dolphin leapt out of the water.
We leaped over the stream.
leap something The horse leapt a five-foot wall.
She leaped across the puddles.
She leaped clear of the water.
The horse leaped over high fences.
A dolphin suddenly leapt out of the water.
The horse galloped on, leaping fences and hedges as it came to them.
Collocations
adverb
almost
nearly
practically
verb + leap
seem to
be about to
be ready to
preposition
acrossfrominto…
phrases
leap to your feet
2 intransitive + adv./prep. to move or do something suddenly and quickly
She leapt out of bed.
He leaped across the room to answer the door.
I leapt to my feet (= stood up quickly).
They leapt into action immediately.
(figurative) She was quick to leap to my defence (= speak in support of me).
The photo seemed to leap off the page (= it got your attention immediately).
His name leapt out at me (= I saw it immediately).
Don't be so nervous—anyone would think I was about to leap on you.
He almost leaped down the stairs when he heard who it was.
He leaped down from the ladder and ran over to her.
He leapt onto his horse and rode off.
He leapt out of bed when he heard the telephone.
Rose immediately leapt to her feet.
children leaping about with excitement
The people on the shore were leaping up and down and shouting.
3 intransitive leap (in something) (from…) (to…) to increase suddenly and by a large amount
synonym shoot up
The shares leapt in value from 476p to close at 536p.
The company saw pre-tax profits leap to £14.5 million in 2004.
Topics Change, cause and effectc1
Idioms
somebody’s heart leaps
jump/leap to conclusions | jump/leap to the conclusion that
look before you leap
Word 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.