【Jump】 ,  【leap】 ,  【spring】 ,  【bound】 ,  【vault】  are comparable as verbs meaning to move suddenly through space by or as if by muscular action and as nouns designating an instance of such movement through space.

All of these terms apply primarily to the movements of men or lower animals, but they also may be used of similar movements of inanimate things.

【Jump】 , the most general term, basically implies a projection of the body that results in reaching a spot which is to some extent distant, whether below, above, or on the same plane.

Since  【jump】 usually implies a rise and descent in a curve and a landing away from the point of origin, it is often applicable to things as well that follow a similar curve or seem to have a similar objective.

【Jump】 may be extended to various sudden or sharp movements whether physical or not.

【Leap】  usually implies greater muscular effort than  【jump】 , though it otherwise often agrees with it in implications; it may or may not suggest suddenness, swiftness, a forward or a backward motion, or an upward or a downward motion, but it usually includes one or more of these connotations in its meaning. In extended use  【leap】  goes further than  【jump】 in suggesting suddenness or intensity (as of change, response, surprise, or exaltation of thoughts).

【Spring】  implies a jumping or leaping, but both as verb and as noun it additionally suggests ideas not involved in  【jump】  and only occasionally involved in  【leap】 , such as resiliency, elasticity, grace of movement, and emergence by issuing or flowing. The emphasis is often upon the action itself rather than upon the fact of movement to or over.

【Bound】  (see also SKIP ) comes very close to  【spring】  in its emphasis upon the action itself, but it carries an implication of vigor and strength not apparent in  【spring】 , so that it often connotes a plunging or a lunging forward.

Although  【vault】 is often used specifically in respect to leaping as a physical exercise with the aid of a long pole as a fulcrum, it may also apply to a 【leap】 or a leaping upward with the aid of a support or a 【leap】 over an object often with a hand laid on the object.