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
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.
Now the brand is hoping to piggyback on the global popularity of F1 to reach a younger audience, even if it’s unlikely to appear near the front of the pack anytime soon.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 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
This was not isolated to its own network - it also caused problems for customers on networks that piggyback off of Three, such as ID Mobile.
From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025
And it's easy to piggyback on this kind of messaging and then manipulate that.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2025
Sapo crawled on Blessington as if Blessington were going to give him a piggyback ride.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
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.
