leaps and bounds

English

Noun

leaps and bounds pl (plural only)

(idiomatic) Dramatic improvements.
- 1990 March 26, CNN The Larry King Show:
  although they have made leaps and bounds in some areas, they're still using some of the same medications that they used on my brother 31 years ago with this particular disease

Usage notes

In the US the phrase "by leaps and bounds" is much more common than "in leaps and bounds", which is somewhat preferred in the UK.

Adverb

leaps and bounds (not comparable)

(idiomatic) Considerably; significantly.
Our company has progressed leaps and bounds this year.
- 2003, Robyn Lim, The geopolitics of East Asia: the search for equilibrium,
  ... the Afghan War showed that America's ability to project power from a distance had improved leaps and bounds since the 1990 Gulf War.

Translations

idiom: considerably

Arabic: عَلَى قَدَم وَسَاق‎ (ʿalā qadam wasāq)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 突飛猛進 (zh), 突飞猛进 (zh) (tūfēiměngjìn), 大幅度地 (dàfúdù de)
Finnish: suurin harppauksin

Greek: αλματώδης (el) (almatódis)
Italian: passi da gigante m pl
Russian: стреми́тельно (ru) (stremítelʹno), как на дрожжа́х (kak na drožžáx)

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.