leapfrog
Americannoun
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a game in which players take turns in leaping over another player bent over from the waist.
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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)
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to jump over (a person or thing) in or as if in leapfrog.
He leapfrogged the fence to reach the crying child.
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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)
noun
verb
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(intr) to play leapfrog
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(tr) to leap in this way over (something)
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to advance or cause to advance by jumps or stages
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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leapfrogsimple
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leapfrogssimple
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have leapfroggedperfect
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has leapfroggedperfect
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am leapfroggingprogressive
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are leapfroggingprogressive
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is leapfroggingprogressive
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have been leapfroggingperfect progressive
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has been leapfroggingperfect progressive
Past
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leapfroggedsimple
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had leapfroggedperfect
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was leapfroggingprogressive
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were leapfroggingprogressive
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had been leapfroggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of leapfrog
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 104-year-old company’s attempt to leapfrog into the 21st century is running into resistance from its agents and customers alike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
"The industry has to innovate and leapfrog, and not just copy and paste China," he said.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
I like it when incumbents are operating on outdated systems because that creates a substantial opportunity to leapfrog competitors with modern integrated technology.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
Victory would have lifted West Ham five points clear of the bottom three, but instead they have left the door ajar for Tottenham to leapfrog them with victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
With these in place, German planes could leapfrog their way up the continent and seize the American-controlled Panama Canal Zone, and perhaps even Mexico or Cuba.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
It is Korda's second Chevron title in three seasons and ensures she leapfrogs Jeeno Thitikul in the rankings, after the Thai missed the cut.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
Intent on ensuring that China leapfrogs the U.S. as the world’s pre-eminent power, Xi Jinping recently made the gutsy and perhaps counterintuitive decision to invest massively in an arena of American strength—basic research.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
The increase leapfrogs the Fed's 75 basis points increase last month for the largest since central banks began responding to inflation in force earlier this year.
From Reuters ● Jul. 13, 2022
The Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin antitank missile leapfrogs this defense with a double explosive warhead.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 12, 2022
But Tom was most astonished to see how he fired himself off—snap! like the leapfrogs which you make out of a goose's breastbone.
From Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 2 by Sylvester, Charles Herbert
But Ms. Raman leapfrogged Mr. Pratt on Sunday after tens of thousands of additional ballots were counted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
And it's not even over Russell, who has been leapfrogged by Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
After spending 209 days at the top of the table, the Gunners have been leapfrogged by Pep Guardiola's side on goals scored.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
From there, we leapfrogged to Venice, then Marina del Rey and finally to Mar Vista, where we bought our second home and planted ourselves like people who understood picket fences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
The first Bantu pioneers probably were few in number, selected wet-forest areas suitable for their yam agriculture, and leapfrogged over drier areas, which they left to Khoisan herders and hunter-gatherers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Olsen: I’m sort of leapfrogging over nominations, and I’m just thinking about what would be exciting on the show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
First, the court agreed to issue its final judgment in Callais quickly, leapfrogging over the normal period when parties could seek Supreme Court rehearing.
From Slate ● May 13, 2026
“Amazon is effectively solving its FCC deadline problem by acquiring a functioning satellite operator while also leapfrogging into direct-to-device connectivity, a market SpaceX’s Starlink has been targeting,” Wedbush analyst Michael Piccolo wrote Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 2026
As China’s population shrinks and ages, Beijing is betting on leapfrogging technological advance and innovation to boost productivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
But by leapfrogging the United States into space, the Russians had turned even local racial policy into fodder for the international conflict.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
