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Leap vs Fling - What's the difference?

leap | fling |

As nouns the difference between leap and fling

is that leap is (acronym) while fling is an act of throwing, often violently.

As a verb fling is

to throw with violence or quick movement; to hurl.

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

    fling

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An act of throwing, often violently.
  • An act of moving the limbs or body with violent movements, especially in a dance.
    • the fling of a horse
  • An act or period of unrestrained indulgence.
  • * D. Jerrold
    • When I was as young as you, I had my fling . I led a life of pleasure.
  • Short, often sexual relationship.
    • I had a fling with a girl I met on holiday.
  • (figuratively) An attempt, a try (as in "give it a fling" ).
  • (obsolete) A severe or contemptuous remark; an expression of sarcastic scorn; a gibe; a sarcasm.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • I, who love to have a fling , / Both at senate house and king.
  • A kind of dance.
    • the Highland fling
  • (obsolete) A trifing matter; an object of contempt.
  • * Old proverb
    • England were but a fling / Save for the crooked stick and the grey goose wing.

    Synonyms

    * (l)

    Verb

  • To throw with violence or quick movement; to hurl.
  • * Dryden
    • 'Tis Fate that flings the dice: and, as she flings, / Of kings makes peasants, and of peasants kings.
  • * Addison
    • I know thy generous temper well. / Fling but the appearance of dishonour on it, / It straight takes fire.
  • * 2011 , Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15210221.stm]
    • Wilkinson was struggling, sending the re-start straight into touch and flinging a pass the same way, and France then went close to the first try of the contest as Clerc took a long pass out on the left and was just bundled into touch by the corner flag.
  • (archaic) To throw oneself in a violent or hasty manner; to rush or spring with violence or haste.
  • * Milton
    • And crop-full, out of doors he flings .
  • * Elizabeth Browning
    • I flung' closer to his breast, / As sword that, after battle, ' flings to sheath.
  • (archaic) To throw; to wince; to flounce.
  • * Helen Crocket, The Ettrick Shepherd's Last Tale
    • The horse flung most potently, making his heels fly aloft in the air.
  • (archaic) To utter abusive language; to sneer.
    • The scold began to flout and fling .