leaps and bounds

noun

Dramatic improvements.

“Our company has progressed leaps and bounds this year.”

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Meanings

nounleaps and bounds pl (plural only)
  1. idiomaticpluralplural onlyDramatic improvements.

    “And how did he make his money?” “In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds.”

    1892 [April], A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. X.—The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume III (January to June), number [16], London: George Newnes, Limited, […], page 390, column 2
    1 more example

    […]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[…]

    1990 March 26, The Larry King Show, via CNN
adverbleaps and bounds (not comparable)
  1. idiomaticnot comparableConsiderably; significantly.

    Our company has progressed leaps and bounds this year.

    1 more example

    […] the Afghan War showed that America's ability to project power from a distance had improved leaps and bounds since the 1990 Gulf War.

    2003, Robyn Lim, The geopolitics of East Asia: the search for equilibrium

Translations

Arabic عَلَى قَدَم وَسَاق
  • عَلَى قَدَم وَسَاق (ʕalā qadam wasāq)idiom: considerably
Bulgarian много бързо
  • много бързо (mnogo bărzo)idiom: considerably
Chinese Mandarin 突飛猛進 /突飞猛进, 大幅度地
  • 突飛猛進 /突飞猛进 (tūfēiměngjìn)idiom: considerably
  • 大幅度地 (dàfúdù de)idiom: considerably
Finnish suurin harppauksin
  • suurin harppauksinidiom: considerably
Greek αλματώδης
  • αλματώδης (almatódis)idiom: considerably
Italian passi da gigante
  • passi da giganteidiom: considerably
Russian стреми́тельно, как на дрожжа́х
  • стреми́тельно (stremítelʹno)idiom: considerably
  • как на дрожжа́х (kak na drožžáx)idiom: considerably
Spanish a pasos agigantados
  • a pasos agigantadosidiom: considerably
Cite this entry
APA

leaps and bounds. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leaps%20and%20bounds

MLA

“leaps and bounds.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leaps%20and%20bounds. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leaps and bounds,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leaps%20and%20bounds.

Source: leaps and bounds on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.