piggyback
Americanadverb
adjective
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astride the back or shoulders.
a piggyback ride.
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sharing commercial time, space, etc..
piggyback advertising.
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carryable or attachable.
a piggyback turbine unit.
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added or tacked on; supplementary.
a piggyback clause.
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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)
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to attach or ally to as or as if a part of the same thing.
to piggyback human rights agreements with foreign aid.
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to carry (somebody) on the back or shoulders.
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to carry (truck trailers) by railroad on flatcars.
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Radio and Television Slang. to advertise (two or more products) in the same commercial.
verb (used without object)
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to be transported aboard or atop another carrier.
The space shuttle piggybacked on the airplane.
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to use, appropriate, or exploit the availability, services, or facilities of another.
private clinics piggybacking on federal healthcare facilities.
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to carry truck trailers by railroad on flatcars.
noun
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a house trailer designed to fit over a pickup truck.
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a truck trailer carried on a flatcar.
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anything that operates in connection with or as part of another.
noun
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a ride on the back and shoulders of another person
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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
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on the back and shoulders of another person
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on or as an addition to something else
adjective
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of or for a piggyback
a piggyback ride
piggyback lorry trains
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of or relating to a type of heart transplant in which the transplanted heart functions in conjunction with the patient's own heart
verb
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to give (a person) a piggyback on one's back and shoulders
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to transport (one vehicle) on another
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to exploit an existing resource, system, or product
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(tr) to attach to or mount on (an existing piece of equipment or system)
Etymology
Origin of piggyback
First recorded in 1580–90; alteration of pickaback
Explanation
To ride piggyback is to hang on to someone's shoulders as they carry you on their back. The best babysitters are happy to give endless piggyback rides. You can use piggyback as an adverb or a noun: "Will you give me a piggyback the rest of the way home?" It can also mean "use someone else's work for support or advantage," like when your idea of selling muffins piggybacks on your brother's existing plan to drive a bakery-themed food truck around town. Experts think piggyback comes from pickaback and the even earlier pick pack (think "backpack").
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.
Big increases in central-bank buying led others to piggyback on the price gains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
Faison: I want to piggyback on something Sarah said though.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026
The most common type of down-payment assistance, according to Down Payment Resource, is a second mortgage, or piggyback loan, which has grown in popularity as affordability has challenged home buyers.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 31, 2026
And it's easy to piggyback on this kind of messaging and then manipulate that.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2025
Downstage, the girl who plays Nancy is giving a piggyback ride to the guy who plays Bill Sikes.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
