Leap vs Lap - What's the difference?

In intransitive terms the difference between leap and lap

is that leap is to jump while lap is to be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap.

In transitive terms the difference between leap and lap

is that leap is to cause to leap while lap is to overtake a straggler in a race by completing one more whole lap than the straggler.

leap

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) lepen, from (etyl) ‘to stumble’).

Verb

To jump.

* anonymous, Merlin

It is grete nede a man to go bak to recouer the better his leep

* 1600 , anonymous, The wisdome of Doctor Dodypoll , act 4

I, I defie thee: wert not thou next him when he leapt into the Riuer?

* 1783 , , from the “Illiad” in Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres , lecture 4, page 65

Th’ infernal monarch rear’d his horrid head, Leapt from his throne, lest Neptune’s arm should lay His dark dominions open to the day.

* 1999 , Ai, Vice: New & Selected Poems , page 78

It is better to leap into the void.

To pass over by a leap or jump.

to leap a wall or a ditch

To copulate with (a female beast); to cover.

To cause to leap.

to leap a horse across a ditch

Usage notes

The choice between leapt and leaped is mostly a matter of regional differences: leapt is preferred in British English and leaped in American English. According to research by John Algeo (British or American English? , Cambridge, 2006), leapt is used 80% of the time in UK and 32% in the US.

Synonyms

* (jump from one location to another) bound, hop, jump, spring * (jump upwards) bound, hop, jump, spring

Noun

(en noun)

The act of leaping or jumping.

* L'Estrange

Wickedness comes on by degrees, and sudden leaps from one extreme to another are unnatural.

* H. Sweet

Changes of tone may proceed either by leaps or glides.

The distance traversed by a leap or jump.

(figuratively) A significant move forward.

* 1969 July 20, , as he became the first man to step on the moon

That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.

(mining) A fault.

Copulation with, or coverture of, a female beast.

(music) A passing from one note to another by an interval, especially by a long one, or by one including several other intermediate intervals.

(obsolete) A basket.

(Wyclif)

A weel or wicker trap for fish.

(Webster 1913)

Derived terms

* by leaps and bounds * leap day * leapfrog * leaping lizards * leap of faith * leaps and bounds * leap second * leap year * look before you leap * quantum leap

Etymology 2

From (etyl) leep, from (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* leep

Noun

(en noun)

basket

a trap or snare for fish

half a bushel

Anagrams

* English irregular verbs

lap

English

Etymology 1

Old English '' (skirt or flap of a garment), from (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron.

An edge; a border; a hem, as of cloth.

The part of the clothing that lies on the knees or thighs when one sits down; that part of the person thus covered; figuratively, a place of rearing and fostering; as, to be reared in the lap of luxury.

The upper legs of a seated person.

The boy was sitting on his mother's lap

(archaic, euphemistic) The female pudenda.

(construction) component that overlaps or covers any portion of the same or adjacent component.

Derived terms

* lapdance, lap-dance, lap dance * lapdog * lapmark * laptop

Verb

(lapp)
To enfold; to hold as in one's lap; to cherish.

* Dryden

Her garment spreads, and laps him in the folds.

To rest or recline in a lap, or as in a lap.

* Praed

to lap his head on lady's breast

Etymology 2

From (etyl) , (etyl) dial. vravle'' "to wind", (etyl) ''goluppare "to wrap, fold up" (from (etyl)). More at envelop, develop The sense of "to get a lap ahead (of someone) on a track" is from 1847, on notion of "overlapping." The noun meaning "a turn around a track" (1861) is from this sense.

Verb

(lapp)
To fold; to bend and lay over or on something.

to lap a piece of cloth

to wrap around, enwrap, wrap up

to lap a bandage around a finger

* Isaac Newton

About the paper I lapped several times a slender thread of very black silk.

to envelop, enfold

lapped in luxury

to wind around

To place or lay (one thing) so as to overlap another.

One laps roof tiles so that water can run off.

To polish, e.g., a surface, until smooth.

To be turned or folded; to lie partly on or over something; to overlap.

The cloth laps''' back; the boats '''lap'''; the edges '''lap .

* Grew

The upper wings are opacous; at their hinder ends, where they lap over, transparent, like the wing of a fly.

To overtake a straggler in a race by completing one more whole lap than the straggler.

To cut or polish with a lap, as glass, gems, cutlery, etc.

Derived terms

* lapper

Noun

(en noun)
The act or process of lapping.

That part of any substance or fixture which extends over, or lies upon, or by the side of, a part of another; as, the lap of a board; also, the measure of such extension over or upon another thing.

The amount by which a slide valve at its half stroke overlaps a port in the seat, being equal to the distance the valve must move from its mid stroke position in order to begin to open the port. Used alone, lap refers to outside lap. See Outside lap (below).

The state or condition of being in part extended over or by the side of something else; or the extent of the overlapping; as, the second boat got a lap of half its length on the leader.

(sports) One circuit around a race track, or one traversal down and then back the length of a pool; as, to run twenty laps; to win by three laps, to swim two laps.

* {{quote-news
, year=2012 , date=May 13 , author=Andrew Benson , title=Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Alonso's second place moves him into a tie on points at the head of the championship with Sebastian Vettel, who was sixth in his Red Bull, passing Button, then Hamilton and finally Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg in quick succession in the closing laps .}}
In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game; — so called when they are counted in the score of the following game.

A sheet, layer, or bat, of cotton fiber prepared for the carding machine.

A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, and the like, or in polishing cutlery, etc. It is usually in the form of wheel or disk, which revolves on a vertical axis.

Derived terms

* lap of honor/lap of honour

Etymology 3

From (etyl) lapian'', from (etyl) .

Verb

(lapp)
(ambitransitive) To take (liquid) into the mouth with the tongue; to lick up with a quick motion of the tongue.

* Shakespeare

They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk.

* Sir K. Digby

The dogs by the River Nilus's side, being thirsty, lap hastily as they run along the shore.

(of water) To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash.

* Tennyson

I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, / And the wild water lapping on the crag.

Derived terms

* lapper

Anagrams

* * * * * English terms with multiple etymologies ----