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Jumped as the French are likely to do? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

leapt

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'jumped' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'the french are likely to do?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'are' could be 'a' (short for 'are', historical unit of measurement) and 'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lep' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'as' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for leapt that I've seen before include "Jumped a long way" , "Jumped on plate" , "Made spring" , "rose fast" , "Jumped, sprang" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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