hopscotch

1 of 2

noun

hop·​scotch ˈhäp-ˌskäch How to pronounce hopscotch (audio)
: a child's game in which a player tosses an object (such as a stone) into areas of a figure outlined on the ground and hops through the figure and back to regain the object

hopscotch

2 of 2

verb

hopscotched; hopscotching; hopscotches

intransitive verb

: to move as if by hopping
hopscotched across Europe

Examples of hopscotch in a Sentence

Verb The tour hopscotched from city to city. We hopscotched across the country.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
One episode hopscotches between the 1968 New York City garbage strike, a shadow play of the Ugandan genocide, and a mournful fantasy about the early AIDS crisis—all as background for the story of one marriage’s dissolution. Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 7 Sep. 2023 Sand Games Your children can play hopscotch, tic-tac-toe, and hangman in the sand. Nicole Harris, Parents, 16 Nov. 2023 Alexandra’s unserious tactics step over the line of journalistic objectivity, smudging it like hopscotch chalk marks. Armond White, National Review, 25 Oct. 2023 Families are walking around, and children are playing hopscotch in the lanes. Mosab Abu Toha, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2023 Students will listen to music of the 1960s, play jacks and hopscotch, read poetry by Langston Hughes, and map out the route that the Watsons took from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama. Greg Garrison | , al, 1 Aug. 2023 Aldean is from Macon, Ga. Toward the end, the violent scenes are juxtaposed against images of Americana such as a small girl playing hopscotch and a flag rising, as a news anchor’s voice comes on talking about farmers dropping their crops for the day to help a neighbor. Melinda Newman, Billboard, 18 July 2023 In the mural, scattered among patches of color and darkness, there are depictions of Baltimoreans and their homes, of bicycles and hopscotch games. Abigail Gruskin, Baltimore Sun, 26 May 2023 After a hopscotch of price cuts over the past month, Tesla’s Model 3 sedan now sells for $4,930 less than the average new vehicle sold in the US. Tom Randall, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2023
Verb
But this approach prompted crews to hopscotch around the cleanup zone — house by house — removing lead from some properties and not others. Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023 In the comics, Timely is a version of Kang the Conqueror who founds a town in Wisconsin in 1901 that houses the company that will, eventually, create the technology Kang uses to hopscotch across time and space. Adam B. Vary, Variety, 18 Feb. 2023 Start with Jack Leiter or Josh Jung and hopscotch through the rest of the organization’s top 10. Dallas News, 20 July 2022 Unlike some large rivals with hub-and-spoke networks, Southwest planes hopscotch from city to city, which may have been another complicating factor. Belle Lin, WSJ, 2 Jan. 2023 Players can use the cat’s preternatural balance and agility to prowl the maze of pipes or hopscotch across air conditioners jutting out of walls. Gieson Cacho, Dallas News, 18 Aug. 2022 With international travel back in full swing, the viruses will get that many more chances to hopscotch across borders and ignite an outbreak. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 7 Sep. 2022 The hunt for answers in countries thousands of miles apart shows how viruses can hopscotch across the globe. Robin Fields, ProPublica, 29 July 2022 Spain, Italy, and Greece also endured major wildfires, and in London, a series of grass fires erupted around the capital Tuesday afternoon, burning several homes — an ominous sign that the destruction could hopscotch the English Channel. Mark Landler, BostonGlobe.com, 19 July 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hopscotch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

hop entry 1 + scotch entry 2 (line, score)

First Known Use

Noun

1801, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1918, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hopscotch was in 1801

Dictionary Entries Near hopscotch

Cite this Entry

“Hopscotch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hopscotch. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hopscotch

noun
hop·​scotch
ˈhäp-ˌskäch
: a child's game in which a player hops through a figure drawn on the ground

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