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leap year
noun
1
: a year in the Gregorian calendar containing 366 days with February 29 as the extra day
2
: an intercalary year in any calendar
Examples of leap year in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In this new release, IWC has employed a massive gear that skips three leap years over four centuries to account for orbital anomalies, and the moon phase display only misses one day every 45 million years.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 12 Apr. 2024
Those leap years cause the first day of spring to happen earlier than normal.
—Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 20 Mar. 2024
Since leap years typically happen every four years (although there are some exceptions), our last leap days were in 2020 and 2016, and the next leap year will happen in 2028.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024
More:When is the next leap year and what does that mean?
—The Arizona Republic, 28 Feb. 2024
Leap years typically occur every four years, meaning 2024, 2028 and 2032 will all be leap years.
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 28 Feb. 2024
One tangible impact of a leap year is that birthdays will fall on a different day of the week than their usual pattern.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 26 Feb. 2024
And don’t forget that leap year that added a day to conduct business, too.
—Jonathan Lansner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024
This year's data includes an extra day in February due to leap year.
—Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 11 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leap year.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of leap year was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near leap year
Cite this Entry
“Leap year.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leap%20year. Accessed 31 May. 2024.
Kids Definition
leap year
noun
: a year in the Gregorian calendar containing 366 days with February 29 as the extra day
More from Merriam-Webster on leap year
Nglish: Translation of leap year for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about leap year
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