leapfrog

[ leep-frog, -frawg ]
/ ˈlipˌfrɒg, -ˌfrɔg /

noun

a game in which players take turns in leaping over another player bent over from the waist.
an advance from one place, position, or situation to another without progressing through all or any of the places or stages in between: a leapfrog from bank teller to vice president in one short year.

verb (used with object), leap·frogged, leap·frog·ging.

to jump over (a person or thing) in or as if in leapfrog: He leapfrogged the fence to reach the crying child.
to move or cause to move as if in leapfrog: Manufacturers are leapfrogging prices because the cost of raw materials has doubled.

verb (used without object), leap·frogged, leap·frog·ging.

to move or advance in or as if in leapfrog: Our tour leapfrogged through six cities in four days.

Origin of leapfrog

First recorded in 1590–1600; leap + frog1

OTHER WORDS FROM leapfrog

leap·frog·ger, noun

Words nearby leapfrog

leap day, leap in the dark, leap of faith, leap second, leap year, leapfrog, leapfrog test, leapt, lear, lear board, lear complex

Example sentences from the Web for leap-frogging

  • Each child finished up by leap-frogging over the stone; and when he'd done that he'd run away and be lost among the trees.

    Brother Copas |Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

  • I shut my eyes, and persuaded myself that all I had to do was to go on leap-frogging.

    Wilfrid Cumbermede |George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for leap-frogging

leapfrog
/ (ˈliːpˌfrɒɡ) /

noun

a children's game in which each player in turn leaps over the others' bent backs, leaning on them with the hands and spreading the legs wide

verb -frogs, -frogging or -frogged

  1. (intr) to play leapfrog
  2. (tr) to leap in this way over (something)
to advance or cause to advance by jumps or stages