piggyback

[pig-ee-bak]

adverb

1. on the back or shoulders.

   The little girl rode her father piggyback.

adjective

1. astride the back or shoulders.

   a piggyback ride.

2. sharing commercial time, space, etc..

   piggyback advertising.

3. carryable or attachable.

   a piggyback turbine unit.

4. added or tacked on; supplementary.

   a piggyback clause.

5. noting or pertaining to the carrying of one vehicle or the like by another, as the carrying of loaded truck trailers on flatcars.

verb (used with object)

1. to attach or ally to as or as if a part of the same thing.

   to piggyback human rights agreements with foreign aid.

2. to carry (somebody) on the back or shoulders.

3. to carry (truck trailers) by railroad on flatcars.

4. Radio and Television Slang.,  to advertise (two or more products) in the same commercial.

verb (used without object)

1. to be transported aboard or atop another carrier.

   The space shuttle piggybacked on the airplane.

2. to use, appropriate, or exploit the availability, services, or facilities of another.

   private clinics piggybacking on federal healthcare facilities.

3. to carry truck trailers by railroad on flatcars.

noun

1. a house trailer designed to fit over a pickup truck.

2. a truck trailer carried on a flatcar.

3. anything that operates in connection with or as part of another.

piggyback

/ ˈpɪɡɪˌbæk /

noun

1. a ride on the back and shoulders of another person

2. a system whereby a vehicle, aircraft, etc, is transported for part of its journey on another vehicle, such as a flat railway wagon, another aircraft, etc

adverb

1. on the back and shoulders of another person

2. on or as an addition to something else

adjective

1. of or for a piggyback

   a piggyback ride

   piggyback lorry trains

2. of or relating to a type of heart transplant in which the transplanted heart functions in conjunction with the patient's own heart

verb

1. to give (a person) a piggyback on one's back and shoulders

2. to transport (one vehicle) on another

3. to exploit an existing resource, system, or product

4. (tr) to attach to or mount on (an existing piece of equipment or system)

Word History and Origins

Origin of piggyback¹

First recorded in 1580–90; alteration of pickaback

Example Sentences

While it's not clear what form this collaboration may take, it's a rare example of a global fashion giant acknowledging that it failed to credit local artisans and the craft it was piggybacking on.

From BBC

This week’s apology piggybacks on a statement Gonzalez’s attorney released a day after the video made national headlines and caused public outrage.

From Los Angeles Times

Cannabis use might be piggybacking on that natural system to produce a similar effect.

From Salon

The Little complaint lays out the same basic facts of the 2022 Salon article, but adds the charge that Hogshead falsely and damagingly piggybacked on SafeSport’s retaliatory investigation of Little, one of its leading critics.

From Salon

And it's easy to piggyback on this kind of messaging and then manipulate that.

From Salon

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