n. [ AS. leáp. ] 1. A basket. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A weel or wicker trap for fish. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To pass over by a leap or jump; as, to leap a wall, or a ditch. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To copulate with (a female beast); to cover. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to leap; as, to leap a horse across a ditch. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Leaped rarely Leapt 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Leap in with me into this angry flood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To spring or move suddenly, as by a jump or by jumps; to bound; to move swiftly. Also Fig. [ 1913 Webster ]

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of leaping, or the space passed by leaping; a jump; a spring; a bound. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wickedness comes on by degrees, . . . and sudden leaps from one extreme to another are unnatural. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

Changes of tone may proceed either by leaps or glides. H. Sweet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Copulation with, or coverture of, a female beast. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mining) A fault. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. hleápere. ] One who, or that which, leaps. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 1st Leap. ] A kind of hooked instrument for untwisting old cordage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A play among boys, in which one stoops down and another leaps over him by placing his hands on the shoulders of the former. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 1st Leap. ] A basketful. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Leap, to jump. [ 1913 Webster ]

Leaping house, a brothel. [ Obs. ] Shak. --
Leaping pole, a pole used in some games of leaping. --
Leaping spider (Zool.), a jumping spider; one of the Saltigradæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By leaps. [ 1913 Webster ]