hop, leap up, spring, jerk, prance, buck, splash, sputter, snap
跳 centers on sudden, springy movement: hopping, leaping, or jerking upward. The splash, sputter, and snap senses are extensions of that same quick, bouncing motion.
跳 combines 足 (foot) with 兆, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of a sign or omen of movement. The character expresses leaping or springing with the feet.
The left side is a foot 足, and the right side 兆 looks like a springy, bouncing shape. Picture a foot pressing down on a coiled spring and then leaping up.
For チョウ, imagine a long-serving chief named Chou hopping over a fence: Chou -> チョウ, and his foot springs up.
(a) jump
jump; leap; skip; bound
to jump; to leap; to prance; to spring up; to bound; to hop
to jump up; to spring up
skipping rope; jump rope
to jump up and down; to hop
to reject; to repulse; to repel
vaulting horse; vaulting box; box horse
jumping; jump (e.g. in prices)
long jump
long horse (for vaulting)
pole vault
jumping about
ricochet
to rebound; to recoil; to spring back up; to bounce back
drawbridge
rebounding
long jump; broad jump
triple jump; hop, step and jump
win worth 12000 points (or, if dealer, 18000 points)