Word.ws English Dictionary

quantum leap

/ˈkwɒntəm liːp/

quantum leap noun: the discontinuous change of the state of an electron in an atom or molecule from one energy level to another.

Noun

quantum leap (plural quantum leaps)

  1. (quantum mechanics) The discontinuous change of the state of an electron in an atom or molecule from one energy level to another.
  2. (figuratively) An abrupt, extreme change.
    • In the end, perhaps the practice of prayer effects a quantum leap of its own kind. It takes us, spontaneously and unexplainably, into the realm of spiritual energy.2001, Helene Ciaravino, How to Pray: Tapping Into the Power of Divine Communication, page 33
    • The beacon was a Prothean artifact unearthed on the Alliance colony of Eden Prime. Its resemblance to the Prothean data banks recovered on Mars provoked immediate interest from the Alliance and the Citadel Council. It proved to be a solid state data storage device, part of a galaxy-spanning comm...2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Beacon Codex entry
    Synonyms:
    quantum jump
  3. (figuratively, informal, nonstandard) A large, massive, significant change.
    • I was at the elections in Namibia. We had problems there, … But I would say that this is a quantum leap forward when you think of the Mengistu government and the horrible repression, the famine, the tyranny that existed under him, and you see this movement toward freedom and democracy over there....1993, Mr Burton, before the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Looking Back and Reaching Forward: Prospects for Democracy in Ethiopia : Hearing Before the...
    • A GIANT LEAP FORWARD
      Humanity is about to face a quantum leap forward. […]1995, Eva Shaw, Eve of Destruction: Prophecies, Theories, and Preparations for the End of the World

Verb

quantum leap (third-person singular simple present quantum leaps, present participle quantum leaping, simple past and past participle quantum leaped or quantum leapt)

  1. (slang, esoteric attraction theory) To manifest, to forward the reality of.

quantum leap meaning in Kannada

quantum leap in Kannada

ಹಠಾತ್ ಪ್ರಗತಿ, ದಿಢೀರ್ ಮುನ್ನಡೆ

Examples of quantum leap in a sentence

  • Intact Prothean 'paleo-technology' is rare; the beacon seemed to promise another quantum leap of technology, akin to the discovery of the mass effect drive and relays.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Protheans: Beacon Codex entry:
  • However, if we reject any theory that falls short of this ideal, science will have to progress in quantum leaps, each with infinitesimal probability.2010 December 18, Tim Stevenson, “Opinion: Letters”, in New Scientist:
  • The addition of power from God through connectedness with the Holy Spirit results in a quantum leap in our ability to accomplish the will of God in our daily lives.2010, Dan Wilson, Supernatural Marriage: The Joy of Spirit-Led Intimacy, page 187:

Synonyms of quantum leap

Forms of quantum leap

Noun
pluralquantum leaps
Verb
third-person singular presentquantum leaps
present participlequantum leaping
past participlequantum leaped
pastquantum leaped
past participlequantum leapt
pastquantum leapt

Origin of quantum leap

Possibly calque of Danish kvantespring.

Questions about quantum leap

What does quantum leap mean?
Quantum leap means the discontinuous change of the state of an electron in an atom or molecule from one energy level to another.
What is quantum leap in Kannada?
Quantum leap in Kannada is ಹಠಾತ್ ಪ್ರಗತಿ, ದಿಢೀರ್ ಮುನ್ನಡೆ. See Quantum leap meaning in Kannada.
How do you use quantum leap in a sentence?
Intact Prothean 'paleo-technology' is rare; the beacon seemed to promise another quantum leap of technology, akin to the discovery of the mass effect drive and relays.
What part of speech is quantum leap?
Quantum leap can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce quantum leap?
Quantum leap is pronounced /ˈkwɒntəm liːp/.
What is the plural of quantum leap?
The plural of quantum leap is quantum leaps.

Words near quantum leap in the dictionary

  1. quantum interferences
  2. quantum jump
  3. quantum jumped
  4. quantum jumping
  5. quantum jumps
  6. quantum leap
  7. quantum leaped
  8. quantum leaping
  9. quantum leaps
  10. quantum limit
  11. quantum limits

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: quantum leap (page history and authors); quantum leap (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-quantum leap.wav.

Cite this entry: “quantum leap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quantum_leap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.