1no object, with adverbial Jump or spring a long way, to a great height, or with great force.

1. 1.1with object Jump across.
   ‘Peter leapt the last few stairs’
   More example sentences

   • ‘He then leapt a fence and galloped over the hill deep into the field.’
   • ‘We heard raucous laughter and audible thuds as people leapt the fence into the yard.’
   • ‘The woman was sometimes caught or confronted on properties or in her victim's homes but always made a getaway, once through a hole in a hedge and on another occasion by leaping a fence.’
   • ‘He leapt the fence, his toe claws pushing off from the top rail.’
   • ‘He said one of his heifers was so frightened by the choppers it leapt a five-foot wire fence and ran down a main road.’
   • ‘As if sensing death they fought hard not to be caught, one beast even leaping the thorny fence.’
   • ‘Now, they're called super shoplifters, and while they can't leap a building in a single bound, they probably could steal most of what was in it.’
   • ‘OK, you don't get to leap tall buildings in a single bound.’
   • ‘You think Superman is the only one who can leap tall buildings?’
   • ‘Bart is determined to leap a gorge on his skateboard after witnessing the death-defying stunts of a real daredevil.’
   • ‘If you don't have that momentum built up, sometimes you cannot leap the gap.’
   Synonyms

   jump over, jump, vault over, vault, spring over, bound over, hurdle, skip, skip over, cross over, sail over, hop, hop over, leapfrog, high jump, clear, negotiate

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2no object, with adverbial Move quickly and suddenly.

1. 2.1Make a sudden rush to do something; act eagerly and suddenly.
   ‘everybody leapt into action’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Although some bird-lovers have leapt to their defence, there is an undeniably anti-social element among the pigeon fraternity.’
   • ‘But friends and colleagues leapt to his defence, insisting they had issued a public thank you for his rescue.’
   • ‘It's that sad old bunch of ex-something-or-others who have leapt to her defence in recent days.’
   • ‘Others, though, have leapt to his defence, claiming the gainsayers just don't get it.’
   • ‘A gang which tried to mug a Selby woman in broad daylight was thwarted when her dog leapt to her defence.’
   • ‘All his cabinet colleagues have leapt to his defence over the problems he has recently faced.’
   • ‘Instantly, the legionnaires in the room leapt to his defence, blades glittering in the light.’
   • ‘Sponsors were eagerly poised to leap forwards to support chess.’
   • ‘He threatened a punch but didn't throw it as Fenway security quickly leapt in.’
   Synonyms

   rush, hurry, hasten, hurtle

   arrive at hastily, reach hurriedly, come to overhastily, form hastily, hurry, hasten, jump, rush, reach

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2. 2.2leap atAccept (an opportunity) eagerly.
   ‘they leapt at the opportunity to combine fun with fund-raising’
   More example sentences

   • ‘When asked by one of its key suppliers to develop their website, staff leapt at the chance.’
   • ‘When the university approached Uncle Sam about the idea of an alumni center, he leaped at the opportunity.’
   • ‘She leaped at the opportunity and became one of only two women investment bankers on a staff of 150.’
   • ‘No doubt he also leapt at the reportedly very large but undisclosed sum of money.’
   • ‘Instead, as they were in the midst of an ad slump and eager to get their hands on big tranches of money, they leapt at the arrangement.’
   • ‘The country leapt at the chance to buy into a pack of lies.’
   • ‘When industrial palynology was in its infancy he leaped at a chance for retraining as a palynologist at Amoco's Tulsa Research Center.’
   • ‘Frankly, if I were Sir Alex, I'd be leaping at the chance to sell a creaking derelict to my fiercest rivals for nearly £7m.’
   Synonyms

   accept eagerly, grasp, grasp with both hands, grab, take advantage of, seize, seize on, snatch, jump at, pounce on

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3. 2.3(of a price, amount, etc.) increase dramatically.
   ‘sales leapt by a third last year’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The money will help first-time buyers who have watched the asking prices of houses leap 14 per cent in the past 12 months.’
   • ‘High-end home prices have leapt 56 per cent in the past nine months.’
   • ‘Petrol stations in some cities are rationing diesel, with prices leaping on the black market, according to official reports.’
   • ‘Market prices leap up every day as the uncertainty of the airport opening and supplies coming in increases.’
   • ‘The stock had leapt 20 per cent in the previous week based on rumours of a find.’
   • ‘If problems hit, spot shortages could develop and prices could leap again.’
   • ‘Wholesale gas prices leapt fivefold over the past few weeks and wholesale electricity prices have increased 150 per cent as a result.’
   • ‘Gross profit margins leaped in the three months to 9.8 per cent from 2.9 per cent.’
   • ‘It expects sales to leap 175 per cent for 2004 compared with the year before.’
   • ‘However, he added, sales leaped dramatically in December and also this past spring.’
   • ‘It said sales leapt 30 per cent in the second quarter.’
   • ‘Fares on some routes would leap to their price ceiling, or 25 per cent above the reference price.’
   • ‘But motorists may wonder why the price of petrol leaps up so quickly when the crude oil it comes from was sold when the price was much lower.’
   • ‘His earnings have leapt dramatically from £3m to £33.5m in the year to September 30.’
   • ‘Beer prices may have leapt somewhat since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, but you're still going to get plenty of hangovers per pound.’
   • ‘The figures for war-related deaths, and child deaths in particular, leapt dramatically in the 1980s.’
   • ‘The number of fatal road accidents in North Yorkshire leapt dramatically last year, according to new figures.’
   • ‘There is no shortage of examples of share prices leaping suspiciously before a bid.’
   • ‘Flat prices consolidated in the second quarter of this year after leaping 25 per cent in the first quarter.’
   • ‘As one small example I note that wholesale gas prices leapt recently, which may well mean higher bills for us all in the summer.’
   Synonyms

   increase rapidly, soar, rocket, skyrocket, shoot up, escalate, mount, surge, spiral, grow rapidly, rise rapidly

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4. 2.4leap out(especially of writing) be conspicuous; stand out.
   ‘amid the notes, a couple of items leap out’
   More example sentences

   • ‘There wasn't one that leapt out at me like with the A and B sets, and the CD didn't help too much.’
   Synonyms

   be noticeable, be noticed, be visible, be seen, be obvious, be conspicuous, stick out, be striking, be distinctive, be prominent, attract attention, catch the eye, leap out, show up

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1A forceful jump or quick movement.

1. 1.1A dramatic increase in price, amount, etc.
   ‘a leap of 75 per cent in two years’
   More example sentences

   • ‘It said a huge leap in coal prices and higher freight charges offset an increase in local power sales.’
   • ‘This article on energy policy shows that fuel shortages and price leaps are almost entirely created by government meddling.’
   • ‘When the whole chain works in sync, there can be a dramatic leap in the speed and efficiency of product development…’
   • ‘No fewer than 196 national teams are competing for the right to play in Japan and Korea; a dramatic leap from the original 13.’
   • ‘Manchester city centre had already bucked the national trend for a drop in sales in the run up to Christmas and has also shown a leap in the amount of cash hitting the tills.’
   • ‘Last year it was rated as the city with the biggest leap in house prices in the UK during the previous five years.’
   • ‘The leap in price was daunting, and we hemmed and hawed for a year before saying okay, let's buy.’
   • ‘It credits wallboard pricing for the leap in revenue.’
   • ‘A leap in price, reflecting recent good news at the company, could occur if its offer is taken off the table.’
   • ‘This price leap was the result of huge public subsides, amounting to over £16 billion, and the fact that the network was flogged off at around a quarter of its real value.’
   • ‘Price rises were inevitable, given the leap in fuel costs, driver pay increases and higher insurance.’
   • ‘These companies have been short-listed from 567 entries from around the North West, a leap of 81 per cent on last year.’
   • ‘This is a leap of 47 per cent in the region on the previous year - double the national increase of 23.5 per cent.’
   • ‘But the most incredible leap in prices has to be that of prawns: the same restaurant offered prawns at 99c each!’
   • ‘2003 was a fantastic season for you, making huge leaps in the rankings; can you pinpoint what caused this dramatic leap?’
   • ‘Subsequent annual and interim figures go a long way to explain the massive share price leap.’
   • ‘That was a sharp leap from the 21 percent who didn't vote in 1995.’
   • ‘Tighter cost control and increased fees resulted in a 14.5 percent leap in profits to $1.46 billion.’
   • ‘Sudden leaps in profits led to large tax liabilities, and Uncle Sam reared his ugly head.’
   • ‘In 2000 it claimed a 53 percent leap in profits to $2.27 billion.’
   Synonyms

   sudden rise, rapid increase, escalation, soaring, surge, upsurge, upswing, upturn

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2. 1.2A sudden abrupt change or transition.
   ‘it doesn't take a great leap of imagination to recognize that you have held an important leadership role’
   More example sentences

   • ‘We passed whole aeons of evolutionary progress in great leaps, seemingly overnight.’
   • ‘That's the leap of imagination that's necessary for faith - or even for a fully informed discussion of faith, even if one does not have faith oneself.’
   • ‘Grand schemes, wild ideas, crazy notions, and intuitive leaps of imagination are, of course, encouraged and fertilized.’
   • ‘I have a mind regularly praised by colleagues for its bold leaps of the imagination.’
   • ‘It now requires a leap of the imagination to see any recovery across the Euro-zone as a whole this year.’
   • ‘It doesn't require a great leap of imagination to detect what Barbra Streisand, Janis Joplin, Carly Simon and his second wife, Rita Coolidge, saw in him.’
   • ‘It necessitates a little leap of the imagination to find the sensitive soul buried within this solid, expensively suited figure.’
   • ‘They want to see things happen and change, but not in terms of great leaps forward.’
   • ‘The advent of mobile phones was heralded as a big leap in communication technology.’
   • ‘Graduating to a locker may have represented an evolutionary leap, but I've never gotten over missing the cloakroom.’
   • ‘There is some hyperbole in this, but the leap of imagination was certainly enormous.’
   • ‘In other places, regional networks facilitate the leap into the future.’
   • ‘It's a big leap for South African soccer, especially with teams that are struggling for sponsorship.’
   • ‘Then the administration cancelled an agreement requiring automobile companies to make the leap to more fuel-efficient vehicles.’
   • ‘Small papers across the country are teeming with ambitious young reporters hoping one day to make the leap to major dailies.’
   • ‘By the end of last summer, I was doing so well I decided to make the leap and sell designer clothes full time.’
   • ‘It wasn't such a leap from Super Ball to Super Bowl.’
   • ‘More mainstream retailers found the checkout system difficult to replicate and, Miles said, worried that most shoppers were not ready for such a leap.’
   • ‘Who else in the online fanfic-writing community has taken such a bold leap of imagination while remaining completely true to the spirit of the film series?’
   • ‘Science has made monumental leaps forward in technology.’
   Synonyms

   change, move, passage, transformation, conversion, adaptation, adjustment, alteration, changeover, metamorphosis

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3. 1.3in place names A thing to be leaped over or from.
   ‘Lover's Leap’
   More example sentences

   • ‘If you've been to Lover's Leap, you'll understand what I'm talking about.’

2 rare A group of leopards.