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:
Third, after acknowledging that we dropped the ball on wind and solar, we should try to leapfrog China on the next wave of energy technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 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
Meanwhile, City beat Burnley 1-0 on Wednesday to leapfrog Arsenal into top spot in the table, the first time City have been at the summit since the opening weekend.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
The twins ran ahead to play leapfrog with the other kids while Naomi helped Muff with her boys.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Jacks played his two Tests in 2022 and leapfrogs Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson and Jack Leach to provide cover for Shoaib Bashir.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2025
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
Directed with admirable clarity by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, “Joan” leapfrogs through time to connect the dots that define its restless, ever-questing protagonist.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2019
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
Michael was already the biggest ever musical biopic, having leapfrogged 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody - about the band Queen.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Anthropic has leapfrogged ahead of rival artificial intelligence developer OpenAI, filing its confidential paperwork for an initial public offering.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
With a 1-0 loss in San Diego Monday, the Padres leapfrogged the Dodgers for the lead in the NL West.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 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
To go from table arrangements to catching spies—it felt as though I had leapfrogged over weeks or months of training.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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
The victory takes the English club to the top of Pool 4, leapfrogging champions Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton who meet in France on Sunday in a re-run of last season's final.
From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026
At least one team that kept leapfrogging us didn’t reach their Atlantic goal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
From established chains to mom-and-pop stores and chic restaurants that challenge tired stereotypes, they have all been taking off here before leapfrogging further afield, to elsewhere in South East Asia and then across the world.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025
“I read about it once. One of our own agents went rogue, and in order to confuse his trail he started leapfrogging through time.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
