leap 
Be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds. 
Shak., T. M., i. 4. 21. 
2. To copulate with; cover: said of the males 
of certain beasts. 3. To cause to take a leap; 
cause to pass by leaping. 
He had leaped his horse across a deep nullah, and got 
off in safety. W. 11. Russett, Diary in India, II. 287. 
leap 1 (lep), . [< ME. leep,*lepe, lupe,< AS. Myp 
= OFries. hlep (in bekhlep) = D. loop = MLG. 
lop = OHG. louf, louph, MHG. louf, G. lauf = 
Icel. Maup = Sw. toj*p = Dan. lob; from the 
verb.] 1. The act or an act of leaping; a 
jump ; a spring ; a bound. 
Behold that dreadfull downfall of a rock : . . . 
Tis that convenient leap I mean to try. 
Dryden, tr. of Theocritus's Idyls, Ui. 58. 
Sudden leaps from one extreme to another are unnatu- 
ral. Sir R. L'Estrange. 
2. The act of copulating with or covering a 
female: said of certain beasts. 3. In music, 
a passing from any tone to one that is two or 
more diatonic steps distant from it. 4. In min- 
ing, a fault or break in the strata. [Rare.] 
A leap in the dark, an act the consequences of which 
cannot be foreseen ; something done regardless of results ; 
a blind venture. 
leap 2 (lep), n. [Also leep; < ME. leep, < AS. 
leap, a basket, = Icel. laupr, a basket, box. Cf. 
secdleap.] If. A basket. Wyclif. 2. A trap 
or snare for fish. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
3. Half a bushel. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
leaper (le'per), . [Also dial. Upper (and loper, 
loujier) ; < ME. lepere, < AS. hledpere, a runner 
(= D. looper = MLG. loper = G. laufer, a run- 
ner, = Icel. hlaupari, a charger (horse), = Dan. 
lober = Sw. lopare, a runner), < hledpan, run : 
see leap 1 .'] 1. One who or that which runs or 
leaps : as, a horse that is a good leaper. 2. An 
anglers' name for the salmon, from its leaping 
over obstructions in streams. 3. A tool used 
by junkmen for untwisting old rope ; a loper. 
leaperyt, n. Same as lepry. 
leap-frog (lep'frog), n. A boys' game in which 
one player places his hands on the back or 
shoulders of another who has assumed a stoop- 
ing posture, and leaps or vaults over his head. 
leapfult (lep'ful), n. [< ME. lepeful; < Icajft + 
-fill] A basketful. Wyclif. 
leaping-fish (le'ping-fish), n. A small bleu- 
nioid fish of the genus Salarias, of an oblong or 
elongate form, with a smooth skin and two or 
three thick rays in the ventral fins : so called 
because it comes out on the shore and is ca- 
pable of leaping considerable distances. The 
name is specifically applied to S. tridactylus of 
Ceylon. 
leaping-houset (le'ping-hous), n. A house of 
ill fame; a brothel. Shak. [Low.] 
leaping-timet (le'ping-tim), n. The period of 
highest bodily activity ; youth. [Rare.] 
I had rather 
Have skipp'd from sixteen years of age to sixty, 
To have turn'd my leapintj-time into a crutch, 
Than have seen this. Shale. , Cymbeline, iv. 2. 200. 
leap-ore (lep'or), n. The most inferior quality 
of tin ore. Also called round ore. 
leapt (lept). An occasional preterit and past 
participle of leap 1 . 
leap-weelt (lep'wel), n. A weel or snare for 
fish. Holland. 
leap-year (lep'yer), n. [< ME. lepe-gere (not 
in AS.) (= Icel. hlaup-dr), leap-year (cf. D. 
schrikkeljaar, MD. schrickeljaer, lit. 'leap-year' 
(< N.D.schricken, leap forward, start, be startled, 
be in fear, D. schrikken, be in fear, + jaer, D. 
jaar, year ; so schrikkeldag, the odd day in leap- 
year, schrikkelmaand, February); Dan. skud- 
aar, Sw. skottdr, lit. 'shoot-year'); < leap 1 , n., 
+ year. The G. name is schaltjahr, lit. 'inter- 
calary year' (< schaltcn, insert, intercalate, + 
jahr, year) ; L. (LL.) bisexKUs annus (> It. anno 
bisestiie, Pg. anno bissexto, Sp. afto bisiesto, F. 
annee bissextile), a year containing a second 
sixth day (sc. before the calends of March) (see 
bissextile).'] A year containing 366 days, or one 
day more than an ordinary year; a bissextile 
year. See bissextile. The exact reason of the name 
is unknown ; but it probably arose from the fact that any 
date in such a year after the added day (February 29th) 
"leaps over" the day of the week on which it would fall in 
ordinary years : thus, if March 1st falls on Monday in one 
year, it will fall on Tuesday in the next if that is an ordi- 
nary year of 385 days, but on Wednesday if it is a leap-year. 
lear 1 (ler), v. [Early mod. E. also leer, lere; 
< ME. leren, teach, learn, < AS. Iceran = OS. 
lerian, lerean, leran = OFries. 7cm = D. leeren 
teach, learn, = MLG. leren = OHG. leran, lerran, 
MHG. leren, G. lehren = Icel. lasra = Goth. 
laisjan, teach ; in form appar. a denominative 
3390 
verb, < AS. Idr (= D. leer = OS. OHG. lera = 
MHG. lere, G. lehre, etc.), teaching lore (see 
lore 1 ), but rather a causative derived, like AS. 
Idr, etc., and the associated verb learn, q. v., 
from a primitive verb represented by Goth. 
leisan (pret. pres. lais), find out, learn, whence 
also ult. last 1 , a foot-track, a mold for a shoe : 
see last 1 .'] I. trans. 1. To teach; instruct; in- 
form. 
Constantyn lette also in Jerusalem chirches rere, 
And wyde aboute elleswer, Christendom to lere. 
Rob. of Gloucester, p. 87. 
This charm I wol yow leere. Chaucer, Troilus, ii. 1580. 
2. To learn. 
The firste vertu, sone, if thou wolt leere, 
Is to restreyne and kepe wel thy tonge. 
Chaucer, Manciple's Tale, 1. 228. 
Al this newe science that men lere. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 25. 
On that sad book his shame and loss he leared. 
Spenser. 
II. intrans. To teach. 
The maister leseth [loseth] his time to lere, 
When the disciple woll not here. 
Ram. of the Rose, 1. 2150. 
[In all senses now only pro v. Eng. or Scotch. ] 
lear 1 (ler), n. [A var. of lore 1 , after the asso- 
ciated verb lear 1 : see lore 1 , lear 1 , >.] Learning ; 
lore; a lesson. [Now prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
This leare I learned of a bel-dame trot 
When I was yong and wylde as now thou art. 
Barnefield, Affectionate Shepheard (1594). 
In many secret skils she had been conn'd her lere. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, xii. 
Thou clears the head u' doited lear. 
Burnt, Scotch Drink. 
Iear 2 t, a. See leei*. 
lear 3 , n. See leeri. 
lear-board (ler'bord), n. Same as layer-board. 
learert, n. [ME. lerare = D. leeraar = LG. lerer 
= OHG. lerari, lerari, MHG. lerare, lerer, G. 
lehrer = Sw. larare = Dan. Icerer, teacher; < 
lear 1 + -er 1 .'] A teacher. 
learn (lern), v. ; pret. and pp. learned, some- 
times learnt, ppr. learning. [< ME. lernen, 
lumen, leornen, < AS. leornian = OS. linon (for 
"lirnon) = OFries. lirna, lerna = OHG. lirnen, 
lernen, MHG. lirnen, lernen, G. lernen, learn ; a 
secondary form, with formative -n, and change 
of orig. s to r (as in the related lear 1 , lore 1 ), 
from the verb represented by Goth, leisan (pret. 
?res. lain), find out, learn: see lear 1 ."] I. trans. 
. To gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in ; 
become informed of or acquainted with : as, to 
learn grammar; to learn the truth. 
To learn to die is better than to study the ways of dying. 
Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., ii. 13. 
As, taught by Venus, Paris learnt the art 
To touch Achilles' only tender part. 
Pope, Dunciad, ii. 217. 
One lesson from one book we learn'd. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Ixxix. 
2. To teach. [Now regarded as incorrect, but for- 
merly in good literary use, and still common in provincial 
or colloquial use.] 
Sweet prince, you learn me noble thankfulness. 
Shale., Much Ado, iv. 1. 31. 
Riper hours hereafter 
Must learn me how to grow rich in deserts. 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, ii. 1. 
II. intrans. To acquire or receive knowledge, 
information, or intelligence; receive instruc- 
tion; profit from teaching: as, to learn how to 
act ; the child learns rapidly. 
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am 
meek and lowly in heart. Mat. xi. 29. 
learnable (ler'na-bl), a. [< learn + -able.] 
Capable of being learned. 
These be gifts, 
Born with the blood, not learnable. 
Tennyson, Balin and Balan. 
learned (ler'ned), p. a. [Prop. pp. of learn, v.~\ 
1. Possessed of the learning of schools; well 
furnished with literary and scientific know- 
ledge; erudite: as, a learned man. 
Men of much reading are greatly learned, but may be 
little knowing. Locke. 
It is very difficult to be learned ; it seems as if people 
were worn out on the way to great thoughts, and can never 
enjoy them because they are too tired. 
George Eliot, Middleman*, I. 398. 
2. Well acquainted; having much experience; 
skilful : often with in : as, learned in art. 
Not learned, save in gracious household ways. 
Tennyson, Princess, vii. 
3. Pertaining to or manifesting learning ; ex- 
hibiting the effect of instruction or learn- 
ing ; scholastic : as, learned accomplishments ; 
a learned treatise. 
lease 
How learned a thing it is to be aware of the humblest 
enemy ! B. Jonson, Sejanus. 
I set apart (for study] an hour or two each day, and thus 
repaired in some degree the loss of the learned education 
my father once intended for me. 
Franklin, Autobiog., p. 128. 
There comes thus to be a separation of the originally 
unitary speech into two parts : a learned dialect, which is 
the old common language preserved, and a popular dia- 
lect, which is its altered descendant. 
Whitney, Life and Growth of Lang., ix. 
= Syn. 1 and 3. Learned, Scholarly, erudite, deep-read. 
These words agree in representing the possession of a 
knowledge obtained by careful and protracted study, es- 
pecially in books. They differ in that learned expresses 
depth and fullness in the knowledge, while scholarly ex- 
presses accuracy : as, a learned and scholarly treatise upon 
the use of the dative case. Learned expresses only the 
result of study ; scholarly may express the result or the 
spirit : as, scholarly tastes. See ignorant. 
learnedly (ler'ned-li), adv. In a learned man- 
ner ; with learning or erudition ; with skill : as, 
to discuss a question learnedly. 
learnedness (ler'ned-nes), . The state of be- 
ing learned; erudition. 
learner (ler'ner), n. [< ME. lernere, < AS. leorn- 
ere, a learner, < leornian, learn: see learn.'] One 
who learns ; one who acquires knowledge or is 
taught ; a scholar ; a pupil. 
learning (ler'niug), n. [< ME. lermjny, < AS. 
leornung (= OS. lernunga = OHG. lirnmiga, 
lernunga, MHG. lernunge), learning, verbal n. 
of leornian, learn: see learn.'] 1. The act of 
acquiring knowledge. 2. Systematic know- 
ledge ; the information gained from books and 
instruction; education in general : as, a branch 
of learning; a low state of learning. 
The rootes of leamynge most bytter we deme ; 
The fruites at last nioste pleasaunt doth seme. 
Babeet Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 340. 
A little learning is a dangerous thing. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 215. 
3. Specifically, profound or extensive literary 
and scientific culture; erudition: as, a man of 
learning. 
What shall become of that commonwealth or church in 
the end which hath not the eye of learning to beautify, 
guide, and direct it? Hooker, Eccles. Polity, vii. 24. 
No power of combining, arranging, discerning, 
Digested the masses he learned into learning. 
Lowell, Fable for Critics. 
4. That which is learned by study of or appli- 
cation to a particular subject; special know- 
ledge or skill: as, to be deeply versed in the 
learning of an art or a profession ; military or 
mercantile learning. 
Puts to him all the learnings that his time 
Could make him the receiver of. 
Shak., Cymbeline, i. 1. 43. 
I once did hold it, as our statists do, 
A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much 
How to forget that learning. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 85. 
The New Learning, the development in England, in the 
sixteenth century, of the Italian Renaissance. It was led 
by Colet, Erasmus, Warham, and More. 
It was the story of Nowhere, or Utopia, which More 
embodies in the wonderful book which reveals to us the 
heart of the New Learning, J. R. Green, Short Hist., v. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Scholarship, Erudition, etc. (see litera- 
ture) ; attainments, acquirements. 
learnt (lernt). An occasional preterit and past 
participle of learn. 
lea-rod (le'rod), n. Same as lay-rod. 
leasable (le'sa-bl), a. [< lease? + -able.'] That 
may be leased; capable of being transferred or 
held by lease. 
lease 1 (lez), .; pret. and pp. leased, ppr. leas- 
iiig. [< ME. lesen, < AS. lesan (pret. la's, pi. 
n, pp. lesen), gather, = OS. lesan = OFries. 
lesa = D. lezen, gather, read, = MLG. lesen = 
OHG. lesan, MHG. G. lesen, gather, read, = Icel. 
lesa, glean, gather, read, = Dan. la-se = Sw. 
Msa, read, = Goth, lisan (pret. las), gather ; cf. 
Lith. lesti, pick up (corn). For the develop- 
ment of the notion 'read' from 'gather,' cf. 
L. legere, Gr. teyeiv, gather, read : see legend, col- 
lect, etc.] I. trans. 1. To gather; pick; pick 
np; pick out; select. [Prov. Eng.] 
Of wynter fruite science 
Yet leseth oute the smale unto the greet, 
So that the tree may sende her di hike & mete. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 165. 
Specifically 2. To glean, as corn. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
II. intrans. To glean ; gather up leavings, 
as at harvest. [Prov. Eng.] 
Ac who so helpeth me to erie or sowen here ar I wende 
Shal haue leue, bi owre lorde, to lese here in heruest. 
Piers Plouinan (B), vi. 68. 
Agreo, that in harvest used to lease ; 
But, harvest done, to chair work did aspire ; 
Meat, drink, and two pence was her daily hire. 
Dryden, tr, of Theocritus's Idyls, ill 
