Leap vs Lurch - What's the difference?
leap | lurch |
To jump.
* anonymous, Merlin
* 1600 , anonymous, The wisdome of Doctor Dodypoll , act 4
* 1783 , , from the “Illiad” in Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres , lecture 4, page 65
* 1999 , Ai, Vice: New & Selected Poems , page 78
To pass over by a leap or jump.
To copulate with (a female beast); to cover.
To cause to leap.
The act of leaping or jumping.
* L'Estrange
* H. Sweet
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
(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.
A weel or wicker trap for fish.
(Webster 1913)
A sudden or unsteady movement.
* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.
(obsolete) To leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.
* South
(obsolete) To steal; to rob.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.
* Francis Bacon
An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.
A double score in cribbage for the winner when his/her adversary has been left in the lurch.
* Walpole
In obsolete terms the difference between leap and lurch
is that leap is a basket while lurch is to swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.As verbs the difference between leap and lurch
is that leap is to jump while lurch is to make such a sudden, unsteady movement.As nouns the difference between leap and lurch
is that leap is the act of leaping or jumping while lurch is a sudden or unsteady movement.leap
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) lepen, from (etyl) ‘to stumble’).Verb
- It is grete nede a man to go bak to recouer the better his leep
- I, I defie thee: wert not thou next him when he leapt into the Riuer?
- 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.
- It is better to leap into the void.
- to leap a wall or a ditch
- 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, springNoun
(en noun)- Wickedness comes on by degrees, and sudden leaps from one extreme to another are unnatural.
- Changes of tone may proceed either by leaps or glides.
- That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.
- (Wyclif)
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 leapEtymology 2
From (etyl) leep, from (etyl) .Alternative forms
* leepAnagrams
* English irregular verbslurch
English
Etymology 1
Noun
(es)- the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard
- Yet I hoped by grouting at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one side, and I was left in darkness.
Verb
(es)- Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.
- And in the brunt of seventeen battles since / He lurched all swords of the garland.
See also
* leave someone in the lurch *Etymology 2
(etyl) (lena) lurcare.Verb
(es)- Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.
Etymology 3
(etyl) .Noun
- Lady Blandford has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch .