leapfrog

noun leap·frog \ ˈlēp-ˌfrȯg , -ˌfräg \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Examples: leapfrog in a Sentence

Definition of leapfrog

: a game in which one player bends down and is vaulted over by another player

See leapfrog defined for English-language learners

See leapfrog defined for kids

Recent Examples of leapfrog from the Web

Add this to the list of bad ideas: Playing leapfrog with a unicorn.

— Houston Chronicle, "Jokes on us: June 11," 10 June 2018
The support van leapfrogs the runners, providing rest and camaraderie for team members.

— stan grossfeld, BostonGlobe.com, "In a grueling relay, runners carry the burden on behalf of veterans," 10 May 2018
For him, the leapfrog innovation of Silicon Valley is far preferable.

— ian bogost, The Atlantic, "The Cute Robot That Follows You Around the City," 28 Feb. 2018
The Supreme Court’s refusal to let the administration leapfrog appeals courts means that DACA stays for at least a few months and perhaps until well after midterm elections.

— Washington Post, "AP News Guide: DACA’s future rests with Congress, courts," 26 Feb. 2018
Others got in formation for leapfrog and duck-duck-goose.

— pia catton, New York Times, "Making Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. Into Super Bowl’s Dancing M.V.P.s," 5 Feb. 2018
ICOs resemble both a new form of crowdfunding, and a technological leapfrog over the regulations that hem in more orthodox funding strategies.

— The Economist, "Manias, panics and Initial Coin Offerings," 7 Oct. 2017
Even a quick leapfrog across the career of Takesada Matsutani, who was born in Osaka, Japan, and is now based in Paris, reveals tremendous formal variation.

— will heinrich, New York Times, "What to See in Los Angeles Art Galleries This Week," 31 Aug. 2017
The Orlando metro saw its average price leapfrog from a wow-fill-er-up $2.04 to an I’ll-get-the-small-coffee-instead $2.17, while the Tampa area’s average went from an are-you-kidding-me $2.01 to an I-guess-that’s-still-not-bad $2.16.

— ron hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Gas prices climbing again as summer hits home stretch," 24 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'leapfrog.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of leapfrog

1599

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

leapfrog

verb

Definition of leapfrog

leapfrogged; leapfrogging

intransitive verb

: to leap or progress in or as if in leapfrog

transitive verb

1 : to go ahead of (each other) in turn; specifically : to advance (two military units) by keeping one unit in action while moving the other unit past it to a position farther in front

2 : to evade by or as if by a bypass

See leapfrog defined for English-language learners

Examples of leapfrog in a Sentence

Skipping his last two years of high school, he leapfrogged his classmates and went to college.
This year's technologies are leapfrogging last year's designs.

Recent Examples of leapfrog from the Web

Usually in our heads but sometimes actually skipping or leapfrogging over sidewalk squares.

— Longreads, "The Cold War and its Fallout," 16 June 2018
Rap and rock have been for the last few years in a crossover moment as the younger genre has leapfrogged the older one in popularity while borrowing its signifiers, and West and Cudi have long admired guitar gods.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "What Lives in Kanye West’s ‘Ghost Town’," 14 June 2018
Duggan is a former employee of L.A. comics shop Golden Apple that leapfrogged into writing comics.

— borys kit, The Hollywood Reporter, "'John Wick' Director, 'Colony' Creator Tackle Comic Book 'Analog' for Lionsgate (Exclusive)," 22 May 2018
Andrew leapfrogged past Stagg High School in Palos Hills, which was up 10 spots this year to No.

— ted slowik, Daily Southtown, "Slowik: Rankings recognize schools where students exceed expectations," 16 May 2018
Once the race begins, trail veterinarians leapfrog along the race.

— stuart l. nelson, jr., Anchorage Daily News, "An inside look at Iditarod dog care," 28 Feb. 2018
The legislation plays well to populist fears that China is leapfrogging the U.S. in job growth and innovation.

— david mclaughlin, latimes.com, "Venture capitalists fret over U.S. bill targeting Chinese investors," 16 May 2018
Fortunately for Dortmund, fellow European chasers Bayer Leverkusen could only win by a one goal margin and were unable to leapfrog the Black and Yellows, with Champions League football set to be played at the Westfalenstadion once again next season.

— SI.com, "Sporting Director Claims Dortmund Must Start From Scratch After Edging UCL Qualification," 14 May 2018
The thing that’s given me greatest amusement at this year’s Google I/O has been the number of iPhone users raising an eyebrow at Google’s new focus on digital well-being and openly declaring that Android has leapfrogged iOS.

— vlad savov, The Verge, "What do we even mean when we say ‘Android’?," 11 May 2018