What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Leap vs Orbit - What's the difference?

leap | orbit |

As nouns the difference between leap and orbit

is that leap is (acronym) while orbit is orbit (path of one object around another object).

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
  • orbit

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A circular or elliptical path of one object around another object.
  • The Moon's orbit around the Earth takes nearly one month to complete.
  • A sphere of influence; an area of control.
  • In the post WWII era, several eastern European countries came into the orbit of the Soviet Union.
  • The course of one's usual progression, or the extent of one's typical range.
  • The convenience store was a heavily travelled point in her daily orbit , as she purchased both cigarettes and lottery tickets there.
  • (anatomy) The bony cavity containing the eyeball; the eye socket.
  • (physics) The path an electron takes around an atom's nucleus.
  • (mathematics) A collection of points related by the evolution function of a dynamical system.
  • Derived terms

    * *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To circle or revolve around another object.
  • The Earth orbits the Sun.
  • To move around the general vicinity of something.
  • The harried mother had a cloud of children orbiting her, asking for sweets.
  • To place an object into an orbit around a planet.
  • A rocket was used to orbit the satellite.

    Synonyms

    * (move around the general vicinity of) circumambulate, tag along * (place an object into an orbit) launch

    Derived terms

    * orbital

    See also

    * satellite * (wikipedia "orbit")