By leaps and bounds 🐸⬆️📈
Meaning
Very quickly and significantly.
Origin
Imagine a time when rapid progress was a rare and wondrous thing. The phrase "by leaps and bounds" conjures an image of vigorous, energetic movement, much like a young child discovering their legs or a powerful athlete clearing a vast distance in a single, decisive jump. This vivid picture of forward motion, of covering ground with immense speed and agility, is what gives the idiom its enduring power. It’s a metaphor for anything that advances with extraordinary quickness, making strides that are both visible and impressive.
By leaps and bounds represented with emoji🐸⬆️📈
This playful arrangement of critters and progress charts functions as a delightful visual metaphor, underscoring the rapid and significant advancement implied by 'by leaps and bounds'. It invites us to see how even the smallest of creatures can achieve monumental growth, celebrating the sheer speed and magnitude of positive change in a whimsical, charming way.
Examples
- The company's profits have grown by leaps and bounds this quarter.
- Her understanding of the subject improved by leaps and bounds after she started studying every day.
- The little seedling grew by leaps and bounds, reaching for the sun like a tiny green rocket.
- After eating the magical beans, the boy's pet snail began traveling by leaps and bounds across the garden.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, the phrase's imagery derives from the physical act of leaping, suggesting large, energetic movements that cover a lot of ground quickly. This visual metaphor for rapid progress is fundamental to its meaning.
The opposite of 'by leaps and bounds' would be phrases indicating slow or negligible progress, such as 'inch by inch', 'at a snail's pace', or 'with little headway'.
While typically used for positive or neutral progress, 'by leaps and bounds' can technically describe the rapid worsening of something, though it's far less common. For example, her debt grew by leaps and bounds.
'By leaps and bounds' is classified as an idiom, meaning its figurative meaning is not directly deducible from the literal meanings of its individual words. Proverbs, on the other hand, typically offer advice or a moral lesson.