pig·gy·back
ˈpi-gē-ˌbak 
1
: up on the back and shoulders
2
: on or as if on the back of another
especially
: on a railroad flatcar
variants
or less commonly pickaback
1
: the act of carrying piggyback
2
: the movement of loaded truck trailers on railroad flatcars
variants
or less commonly pickaback
1
: marked by being up on the shoulders and back
a child needs hugging, tussling, and piggyback rides—
Benjamin Spock
Benjamin Spock2
: carried or transported piggyback: such as
a
: of or relating to the hauling of truck trailers on railroad flatcars
b
: being or relating to something carried into space as an extra load by a vehicle (such as a spacecraft)
variants
or less commonly pickaback
piggybacked also pickabacked; piggybacking also pickabacking; piggybacks also pickabacks
1
: to carry up on the shoulders and back
2
: to haul (something, such as a truck trailer) by railroad car
3
: to set up or cause to function in conjunction with something larger, more important, or already in existence or operation
: to function or be carried on or as if on the back of another
Did you know?
Piggyback was first used in the 16th century as an adverb, meaning "up on the back and shoulders" (as in "the child was carried piggyback"). It comes from a phrase of unknown origin, a pick pack. There is also the less-common adverb pickaback. The verb piggyback didn't piggyback on the adverb until the 19th century.
Examples of piggyback in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebStephen Clark, Ars Technica, 11 July 2023
María was now nineteen kilos, a weight Lil still carried with relative ease, piggyback or fireman.
—Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024
The piggyback part is key, providing a reservoir of heat management to keep the shocks moving.
—Kristin Shaw, Ars Technica, 18 Dec. 2023
Families can also use the Cruz V2 with a piggyback board to accommodate an older standing rider of up to 50 pounds.
—Chaunie Brusie, Rn, Parents, 24 Nov. 2023
Name: Isolepis cernua Growing Conditions: Medium light; 55-75°F; keep soil evenly moist or wet
Size: Up to 12 inches tall
22
Piggyback Plant
Soft, fuzzy green leaves are only part of the appeal of piggyback plant.
—Sheryl Geerts, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Sep. 2023
But riding piggyback on Psyche is an assembly called DSOC—short for Deep Space Optical Communications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2023
But openers and bulk pitchers and piggyback starters are not first choices.
—Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
Getting to, and potentially winning, a World Series this year will depend on the execution of an almost unprecedented patchwork pitching plan, one likely to utilize openers, bulk relievers and piggyback outings — and feature notably few traditional starts.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023
Lindsey Konkel, Discover Magazine, 25 Jan. 2010
Mark Hamill also celebrated his Star Wars costar's birthday on Sunday by re-posting their infamous piggyback picture.
—Glenn Garner, PEOPLE.com, 10 Apr. 2022
Jonathan Stempel, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023
Indeed, Wu and his colleagues suggest that their seismic network could piggyback on the infrastructure needed to support other science experiments on the Moon—for example, a radio telescope on the moon’s far side.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2024
The production company and the location have each sought to piggyback on Halls’ successful argument.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024
The organizations say thousands of their stories were used by OpenAI to train chatbots to answer questions posed to it by users, in effect piggybacking on their journalism without permission, payment or credit.
—David Bauder, Quartz, 28 Feb. 2024
Scherzinger and Robin Thicke both guessed Jersey Shore's Pauly D, and Jeong stuck to his guns and guessed Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval, which Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg piggybacked off of.
—Lauren Huff, EW.com, 5 Oct. 2023
Parents tend to pay some bills for their adult children or allow the children to piggyback on their accounts, such as for cellphones and subscription streaming services.
—Bob Carlson, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Another strain of malicious fake news piggybacked on a feud between late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2024
This ensures the watch isn’t piggybacking off my phone’s GPS.
—Brandon Widder, The Verge, 16 Dec. 2023
Noun
That’s because the mission, called Janus, was supposed to launch last year as a piggyback payload on the same rocket with NASA’s much larger Psyche spacecraft, which will fly to a 140-mile-wide (225-kilometer) metal-rich asteroid—also named Psyche—for more than two years of close-up observations.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 11 July 2023
María was now nineteen kilos, a weight Lil still carried with relative ease, piggyback or fireman.
—Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024
The piggyback part is key, providing a reservoir of heat management to keep the shocks moving.
—Kristin Shaw, Ars Technica, 18 Dec. 2023
Families can also use the Cruz V2 with a piggyback board to accommodate an older standing rider of up to 50 pounds.
—Chaunie Brusie, Rn, Parents, 24 Nov. 2023
Name: Isolepis cernua Growing Conditions: Medium light; 55-75°F; keep soil evenly moist or wet
Size: Up to 12 inches tall
22
Piggyback Plant
Soft, fuzzy green leaves are only part of the appeal of piggyback plant.
—Sheryl Geerts, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Sep. 2023
But riding piggyback on Psyche is an assembly called DSOC—short for Deep Space Optical Communications.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2023
But openers and bulk pitchers and piggyback starters are not first choices.
—Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
Getting to, and potentially winning, a World Series this year will depend on the execution of an almost unprecedented patchwork pitching plan, one likely to utilize openers, bulk relievers and piggyback outings — and feature notably few traditional starts.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023
Adjective
Trials in mice showed that this piggyback approach increased the ability of the immune system to recognize the toxin.
—Lindsey Konkel, Discover Magazine, 25 Jan. 2010
Mark Hamill also celebrated his Star Wars costar's birthday on Sunday by re-posting their infamous piggyback picture.
—Glenn Garner, PEOPLE.com, 10 Apr. 2022
Verb
Larger investments are normally Buffett’s, and investors often try to piggyback on Berkshire’s trading, reflecting Buffett’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest investors.
—Jonathan Stempel, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023
Indeed, Wu and his colleagues suggest that their seismic network could piggyback on the infrastructure needed to support other science experiments on the Moon—for example, a radio telescope on the moon’s far side.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2024
The production company and the location have each sought to piggyback on Halls’ successful argument.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024
The organizations say thousands of their stories were used by OpenAI to train chatbots to answer questions posed to it by users, in effect piggybacking on their journalism without permission, payment or credit.
—David Bauder, Quartz, 28 Feb. 2024
Scherzinger and Robin Thicke both guessed Jersey Shore's Pauly D, and Jeong stuck to his guns and guessed Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval, which Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg piggybacked off of.
—Lauren Huff, EW.com, 5 Oct. 2023
Parents tend to pay some bills for their adult children or allow the children to piggyback on their accounts, such as for cellphones and subscription streaming services.
—Bob Carlson, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Another strain of malicious fake news piggybacked on a feud between late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2024
This ensures the watch isn’t piggybacking off my phone’s GPS.
—Brandon Widder, The Verge, 16 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'piggyback.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near piggyback
Cite this Entry
“Piggyback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piggyback. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
piggyback
1 of 2 adverb or adjective
pig·gy·back
ˈpig-ē-ˌbak
variants
also pickaback
ˈpig-ē-ˌbak
ˈpik-ə-
1
: on the back or shoulders
2
: on a railroad flatcar
piggyback
2 of 2 noun
: the act of carrying piggyback
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