Meaning & use
big leaps
Last updated
Meaning
phraseplural
Large or sudden increases in progress, achievement, or understanding.
Grammar: Always plural in this idiom; the singular 'a big leap' means one single large jump forward.
Patterns
- make big leaps
- big leaps in something
- big leaps forward
The team has made big leaps in the last six months.
Science took big leaps forward during that decade.
Her reading skills made big leaps over the summer.
Common combinations
- make big leaps
- The company made big leaps in productivity this year.
- big leaps forward
- Medicine has taken big leaps forward since then.
- big leaps in technology
- We have seen big leaps in technology recently.
- take big leaps
- Children often take big leaps in language learning.
- by big leaps
- Progress came not by small steps but by big leaps.
Synonyms and how they differ
- huge strides
- Very close in meaning, but 'strides' suggests steady steps rather than sudden jumps.
- great progress
- Broader and less vivid; it does not imply the jump-like suddenness of 'big leaps'.
- breakthroughs
- Refers to specific discoveries or moments rather than the general size of progress.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: big leaps or big jump?
big leaps vs big jump
Similar, but 'jump' can be literal (a physical jump) and is more common in sports; 'leap' is more figurative and dramatic.
Practice
The researchers have made big ___ in cancer treatment this year.
Choose one answer.
'Big leaps' is a fixed plural phrase after 'made'. 'Leap' is singular and would need 'a' before it, and 'leaping' or 'leaper' do not fit this idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “big leaps”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.