▪ I. leaping, vbl. n.
(ˈliːpɪŋ)
[f. leap v. + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. leap, in various senses.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 480 Ða unstæððiᵹan hleapunge þæs mædenes. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxii. (1495) 781 The wylde gote is..moost lyght in lepynge and moste sharpe in sighte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 297/1 Lepynge a-wey, fuga. 1529 Supplic. to King (E.E.T.S.) 41 Church ales in the whiche with leappynge, daunsynge, and kyssyng, they maynteyne the profett of their churche. 1611 Florio, Chiarantana, a kind of Caroll or song full of leapings like a Scotish gigge. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. ii. 49 Which way so euer I sought to winde me, was but a leaping out of the Frying Pan into the fire. 1664 Cotton Scarron. 30 Our æneas, at two leapings, Set the first foot upon the steppings. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad liv, By brooks too broad for leaping The lightfoot boys are laid. |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
leaping-bar,
leaping-pole;
leaping-head,
-horn, the lower pommel on a side-saddle, against which the left knee presses in leaping; a hunting-horn, ‘third crutch’;
† leaping house, a brothel;
leaping-on-stone, a stone for convenience in mounting a horse; a horse-block;
leaping time, the time of activity, youth.
| 1852 Whately in Life (1866) II. 260 The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill (commonly called ‘Lord John's *leaping-bar’ to afford exercise in jumping over it). |
| 1881 Mrs. P. O. Donoghue Ladies on Horseb. i. iii. 35 By..pressing the left knee against the *leaping-head, you can accomplish the rise in your saddle. |
| 1859 Art Taming Horses ix. 144 In case of a horse ‘bucking’, without the *leaping-horn there is nothing to prevent a lady from being thrown up. But the leaping⁓horn holds down the left knee. |
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 9 What a diuell hast thou to do with the time of the day? vnlesse houres were cups of Sacke..and dialls the signes of *Leaping-houses. |
| 1837 Lockhart Scott II. ii. 63 He immediately trotted to the side of the *leaping-on-stone of which Scott from his lameness found it convenient to make use. |
| 1859 Farrar Jul. Home xvi. 205 Trying the merits of his alpenstock as a *leaping-pole. 1893 Baring-Gould Cheap Jack Z. III. 192 In the Fens, when a man requires to traverse a considerable distance, he provides himself with a leaping-pole. |
| 1661 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 200 To haue turn'd my *leaping time into a Crutch. |
▪ II. leaping, ppl. a. (
ˈliːpɪŋ)
[f. leap v. + -ing2.] That leaps (
† runs,
† dances, etc.: see the
vb.).
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 482 Herodes swor..ðæt he wolde ðære hleapendan dehter forᵹyfan swa hwæt swa heo bæde. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 389 More sutil and sinful þan þis lepynge strumpet [sc. the daughter of Herodias]. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1460 They luyschene to-gedyres..on leppande stedes. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 12 There is a remedy to quail these wanton leaping beasts [satyrs]. 1667 Duchess of Newcastle in Life Duke N. (1886) II. 101 A grey leaping horse. 1716 Loyal Mourner 9 And leaping Dolphins catch a distant View. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. iv. (1871) 219 A joy as of the leaping fire Over the house-roof rising higher. |
b. In the names of various animals, plants, etc., as
leaping cucumber = spirting or
squirting cucumber (see
cucumber 3);
leaping-fish, the fish
Salarias tridactylus, of Ceylon; so called because it comes on shore and leaps over the wet stones, etc.;
(Cape) leaping hare = jumping hare: see
jumping ppl. a. b;
leaping spider, ‘a jumping spider, one of the
Saltigradæ’ (W.).
| 1548–78 *Leaping cucumber [see cucumber 3]. |
| 1861 Tennent Nat. Hist. Ceylon 495 Index, *Leaping fish. |
| 1849 Mammalia IV. 44 The *leaping hare equals our common hare in size. 1859 Wood Nat. Hist. I. 588 The Spring Haas, or Cape Gerboa, sometimes called, from its hare-like aspect, the Cape Leaping Hare. |
c. leaping ague,
† gout (see
quots.).
| 1562 Turner Baths 6 This bathe..is good for the leping goute, that runneth from one ioynte to another. 1792 Statist. Acc. Scotl. IV. 5 A distemper called by the country-people the leaping-ague, and by physicians, St. Vitus's dance. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 375 In the mountainous part of Angus a singular disease, called there the leaping ague, is said to exist, bearing a resemblance to St. Vitus's dance. |
Hence
ˈleapingly adv., by leaps.
| 1548 Elyot Dict., Assultim, leapyngly, iumpyngly. |