frogmarch
[ frog-mahrch, frawg- ]
/ ˈfrɒgˌmɑrtʃ, ˈfrɔg- /
verb (used with object)
to force (a person) to march with the arms pinioned firmly behind the back.
Nearby words
frogged, frogging, froggy, froghopper, frogman, frogmarch, frogmouth, frogspawn, frogstool, frohman, frohman, charles
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for frog march
frogmarch
/ (ˈfrɒɡˌmɑːtʃ) /
noun
a method of carrying a resisting person in which each limb is held by one person and the victim is carried horizontally and face downwards
any method of making a resisting person move forward against his will
verb
(tr) to carry in a frogmarch or cause to move forward unwillingly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for frog march
frog march
also frog-march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog (n.1) perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down. By the 1930s, the verb was used in reference to the much more efficient (but less frog-like) method of getting someone in an arm-behind-the-back hold and hustling him or her along like that.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper