leaper
See also: Leaper
English
Etymology
From Middle English lepere, lepare, from Old English hlēapere (“runner, leaper, dancer, courier, vagrant”), equivalent to leap + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Lööper (“runner”), West Frisian ljepper (“leaper”), West Frisian loper (“runner”), Dutch loper (“runner”), German Läufer (“runner”), Swedish löpare (“runner”), Icelandic hlaupari (“runner”).
Noun
leaper (plural leapers)
- One who leaps.
- 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers, New York: Avon, Chapter 39, p. 299,
- […] I read in the Bulletin about some mad joker breaking into the little kangaroo and koala zoo in the suburbs and slaughtering seven adult leapers and three joeys.
- 1989, John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany, New York: William Morrow, Chapter 6, p. 271,
- In the winter—God knows why!—he liked basketball […] He played only in pickup games, to be sure—he could never have played on any of the teams—but he played with enthusiasm; he was quite a leaper, he had a jump shot that elevated him almost to eye level with the other players […]
- 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers, New York: Avon, Chapter 39, p. 299,
- A kind of hooked instrument for untwisting old cordage.
- (chess) A piece, like the knight, which moves a fixed distance, and ignores pieces in the way.
- A person whose birthday falls on 29 February
Derived terms
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.