leapfrog

1 of 2

noun

leap·​frog ˈlēp-ˌfrȯg How to pronounce leapfrog (audio)
-ˌfräg
: a game in which one player bends down and is vaulted over by another player

leapfrog

2 of 2

verb

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

Examples of leapfrog in a Sentence

Verb 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 on the Web
Noun
Now is the time to play a great game of SEO leapfrog. David Einstein, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024 With a system that learned from existing applications, Apple was able to deliver a product that felt like a leap forward for consumers while being a practical leapfrog for the company. Sherzod Odilov, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 His actors get hung out to dry, convincing neither in that steamy mode nor in their escalating multiple-personality acts, as the evil spirit plays leapfrog between different bodies. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 Oct. 2023 Gonna be playing leapfrog with the team below for the next two months. Gabe Lacques, The Enquirer, 31 July 2023 Drugmakers play a game of leapfrog, trying to get in front of the evolutionary maneuvers that bacteria use to protect themselves from drugs. Maryn McKenna, Scientific American, 19 May 2021 Monument Realty played leapfrog — again. Dallas News, 9 Nov. 2022 Some countries are highly digitized and made the leapfrog of digital transformation, like Sweden, Estonia, or Lithuania. Uri Levine, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023 With this network, India has shown on a previously unseen scale how rapid technological innovation can have a leapfrog effect for developing nations, spurring economic growth even as physical infrastructure lags. Hari Kumar, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2023
Verb
For Atlas Van Lines, the collaboration is a way to leapfrog technologically and make moving easier for customers and its agents. Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2024 As a result of Meta’s turnaround success, Zuckerberg—whose wealth is largely tied to his stake in the social media giant—has leapfrogged Elon Musk as the world’s third-richest person, according to data from Bloomberg. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2024 But what if there was a way to leapfrog these limitations and unlock entirely new levels of efficiency, sustainability and resiliency? Imagine a warehouse where robots assist technicians through aisles, autonomously taking inventory, while a central AI brain optimizes layouts for peak efficiency. Timothy Papandreou, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024 The Seals can still leapfrog Toronto for first place with a combination of two wins and two Toronto losses. Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Apr. 2024 Meanwhile, the European Union this month gave final approval to a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence law, once again leapfrogging the United States on regulating a critical and disruptive technology. Brian Fung, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024 That’s because mobile technology leapfrogged the slow-moving legacy telecoms to provide better, affordable service to populations deemed unworthy of such critical infrastructure. Eric MacK, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024 Rookie Jackson Merrill leapfrogged Triple-A altogether to become the confident-beyond-his-years starter in center field. Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2024 What was a $50,000 firm in 2020 leapfrogged to $230,000 in 2021 and reached nearly $1 million in revenue in 2022. Alicia Wallace, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024

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

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1599, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1872, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of leapfrog was in 1599

Dictionary Entries Near leapfrog

Cite this Entry

“Leapfrog.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leapfrog. Accessed 4 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

leapfrog

noun
leap·​frog
ˈlēp-ˌfrȯg,
-ˌfräg
: a game in which the first player bends down and another leaps over

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