LEAP-1

Good morning everyone. I hope you had a good weekend.

This week we are going look at meanings of and expressions with the English word LEAP. It is a synonym of the word JUMP, which we studied during the week of September 19th, 2011, but there are some differences. As we shall see this week, LEAP is even the name of a very special date!

To start off, today we will explain the basic meanings of LEAP and give some examples.

Meaning 1 of LEAP: to jump a long way or to jump across something.

Example1:
Watch how the dancers leap gracefully across the stage.

Example 2:
I'll give you five pounds if you can leap across that stream without falling in.

Meaning 2 of LEAP: to move quickly and suddenly; to make a sudden movement because of surprise, fear or excitement.

Example 3:
I leapt* out of the way when I saw the bicycle coming towards me.

Example 4:
The game is simple. You have to leap aside before the rope touches your feet.

Meaning 3 of LEAP: to increase dramatically

Example 5:
Inflation leapt by 15% when the new currency was brought in.

Example 6:
The birth rate is predicted to leap by 20% in the next 5 years.

*NOTE: You can say leapt or leaped as the past simple and past participle forms of to leap.

If you have any questions about today's lesson, please post your comments after this lesson in the Daily Vitamin section on our website.

Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow.