leap

leap¹ [li:p] v past tense and past participle leapt [lept] especially BrE leaped especially AmE

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1¦(jump)¦

2¦(move fast)¦

3¦(increase)¦

4 leap at the chance/opportunity

5 leap to somebody's defence

6¦(heart)¦

Phrasal verbs

　leap out at somebody

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[: Old English; Origin: hleapan]

1.) ¦(JUMP)¦

a) [I 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) [T] literary

to jump over something

▪ Brenda leaped the gate and ran across the field.

2.) ¦(MOVE FAST)¦ [I 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)¦

to increase quickly and by a large amount

≠ ↑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 art in Paris.

5.) leap to sb's defence

[i]BrE leap to somebody's defense AmE

to quickly defend someone

▪ When her younger brother was being bullied she leapt to his defence.

6.) ¦(HEART)¦

[i]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 ↑look¹ (12)

leap out at [leap out at sb] phr v

if a word or phrase in a piece of writing leaps out at you, you notice it particularly, because it is interesting, important etc

= ↑jump out at

leap ²

leap² n

1.) a big jump

= ↑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