Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Leap

Leap

,
Noun.
[AS.
leáp
.]
1.
A basket.
[Obs.]
Wyclif.
2.
A weel or wicker trap for fish.
[Prov. Eng.]

Leap

(lēp)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Leaped
(lēpt; 277)
, rarely
Leapt
(lēpt or lĕpt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Leaping
.]
[OE.
lepen
,
leapen
, AS.
hleápan
to leap, jump, run; akin to OS.
āhlōpan
, OFries.
hlapa
, D.
loopen
, G.
laufen
, OHG.
louffan
,
hlauffan
, Icel.
hlaupa
, Sw.
löpa
, Dan.
löbe
, Goth.
ushlaupan
. Cf.
Elope
,
Lope
,
Lapwing
,
Loaf
to loiter.]
1.
To spring clear of the ground, with the feet; to jump; to vault;
as, a man
leaps
over a fence, or
leaps
upon a horse
.
Bacon.
Leap
in with me into this angry flood.
Shakespeare
2.
To spring or move suddenly, as by a jump or by jumps; to bound; to move swiftly. Also Fig.
My heart
leaps
up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.
Wordsworth.

Leap

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To pass over by a leap or jump;
as, to
leap
a wall, or a ditch
.
2.
To copulate with (a female beast); to cover.
3.
To cause to leap;
as, to
leap
a horse across a ditch
.

Leap

,
Noun.
1.
The act of leaping, or the space passed by leaping; a jump; a spring; a bound.
Wickedness comes on by degrees, . . . and sudden
leaps
from one extreme to another are unnatural.
L’Estrange.
Changes of tone may proceed either by
leaps
or glides.
H. Sweet.
2.
Copulation with, or coverture of, a female beast.
3.
(Mining)
A fault.
4.
(Mus.)
A passing from one note to another by an interval, especially by a long one, or by one including several other and intermediate intervals.

Webster 1828 Edition

Leap

LEAP

,
Verb.
I.
[L. labor, perhaps. Heb.]
1.
To spring or rise from the ground with both feet, as man, or with all the feet, as other animals; to jump; to vault; as, a man leaps over a fence, or leaps upon a horse.
A man leapeth better with weights in his hands than without.
2.
To spring or move suddenly; as, to leap from a horse.
3.
To rush with violence.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them and overcame them - Acts 19.
4.
To spring; to bound; to skip; as, to leap for joy.
5.
To fly; to start. Job. 41.
He parted frowning from me, as if ruin leaped from his eyes.
[Our common people retain the Saxon aspirate of this word in the phrase, to clip it, to run fast.]

LEAP

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To pass over by leaping; to spring or bound from one side to the other; as, to leap a wall, a gate or a gulf; to leap a stream. [But the phrase is elliptical, and over is understood.]
2.
To compress; as the male of certain beasts.

LEAP

,
Noun.
1.
A jump; a spring; a bound; act of leaping.
2.
Space passed by leaping.
3.
A sudden transition of passing.
4.
The space that may be passed at a bound.
'Tis the convenient leap I mean to try.
5.
Embrace of animals.
6.
Hazard, or effect of leaping.
7.
A basket; a weel for fish. [Not in use.]

Similar Results