frog
Pluralfrogs
Pluralfrogs
- 1A small jumping animal with smooth, wet skin that lives near water.
A green frog sat on the lily pad by the pond.
The frogs croaked loudly all through the summer night.
Note
- 2To pull out rows of knitting or crochet to fix a mistake or reuse the yarn.
Like pulling out stitches to undo your sewing and start again.
I had to frog the whole sleeve after dropping a stitch.
She decided to frog the scarf and start over.
UsagePeople who knit or crochet know this word. With others, say unravel.
Similarunravel
Note
- 3A soft, V-shaped pad on the bottom of a horse's foot that helps pump blood.
Like a built-in pump inside the bottom of the horse's foot.
The farrier cleaned dirt out of the horse's frog before fitting the shoe.
A healthy frog should feel firm but slightly springy to the touch.
Less common meanings
- 4A fancy clothing fastener made of a knot or button that slips through a loop.
Like a button and buttonhole, but made from a fancy knot and a loop.
She fastened her coat with a silk frog at the collar.
Each frog on the jacket was sewn by hand.
Note
- 5A small spiked or holed object set in a vase to hold flower stems in place.
Like a tiny bed of spikes that holds flowers standing up.
She pressed each stem onto the frog at the bottom of the bowl.
A metal frog kept the tall flowers from tipping over.
UsagePeople often say flower frog.
Note
- 6A fishing lure shaped like a frog, used to catch fish.
Like a toy frog that tricks fish into biting.
He cast the frog across the pond and waited for a bite.
A green rubber frog works well in weedy water.
UsageAnglers say they fish a frog.
Note
- 7A rude, insulting name for a French person or a French-speaking Canadian.
The sergeant kept calling the new recruit a frog because his mother was Parisian.
Tabloid headlines once mocked the frogs across the Channel.
UsageDo not call anyone this. Only talk about the word.
Note
- 8To catch or hunt frogs, often for food or bait.
Like going fishing, but you are after frogs instead of fish.
Grandpa taught us how to frog using just a net and a bucket.
Every July the boys frog in the marsh behind the farm.
UsagePeople usually say go frogging.
- 9The part at the end of a violin bow that the player holds, where the hair is attached.
Like the handle end of the bow, where your hand grips.
She tightened the bow by turning the screw near the frog.
A small chip in the frog made the bow hard to hold.
UsagePlayers say at the frog for playing near that end of the bow.
Note
- 10The crossing point where two railroad rails meet and cross at a switch.
Like the spot where two paths cross, but built for train tracks.
The train rattled as it rolled over the frog in the track.
Workers replaced the worn frog at the junction.
Note
- 11A loop of leather or cloth that holds a sword or its case to a belt.
Like a loop on a belt that holds a sword instead of holding up your pants.
The soldier slid his bayonet into the frog on his belt.
A worn leather frog held the old sword in place.
Note
- 12To close or trim a coat using looped cloth fasteners.
Like adding rope loops to hold a coat shut instead of buttons.
Her red coat was frogged with black braid down the front.
His old army jacket was frogged with black cord across the chest.
UsageUsually frogged: a coat frogged with gold braid.
Similartrim
- 13To lie flat on your belly with your legs stretched out behind you.
Like lying flat like a pancake with your arms and legs spread wide.
The puppy likes to frog on the cool kitchen floor.
After the long walk, the dog frogged out on the tiles.
Similarsprawl
- 14To cut out a chicken's backbone and press it flat so it cooks faster.
Like opening a book and laying it flat on the table.
Frog the chicken before you put it on the grill.
He frogged two chickens for the family barbecue.
UsageSpatchcock means the same and is better known.
Similarspatchcock, butterfly
Note
- 15
- 16A road or street, in Cockney slang.
Mind how you cross the frog, it's busy tonight.
We strolled down the frog to the corner shop.
Similarroad
Note
- 17A hollow dent in the top side of a clay brick that holds the cement and saves material.
Like the dip in the top of a muffin where syrup can collect.
The builder set each brick with the frog facing up so it held more cement.
Rainwater pooled in the frog of every brick left outside.
- 18
- 19A part of overhead train wires that moves a pole from one wire to another.
- 20To move cells from one culture plate to another using a tool with many small prongs.
Showing meanings only.
More uses
- frog in one's throata rough, hoarse feeling in your throat
Practice
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Origins
From an old English word for frog, going all the way back to early Germanic languages. One meaning (the part of a horse's hoof) copied an Ancient Greek word.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Frog derives from an Old English word for frog. en.wiktionary.org
- Its ancestry extends to early Germanic. en.wiktionary.org
- The horse-hoof meaning copies an Ancient Greek meaning. en.wiktionary.org
From "frog legs," a food thought of as typically French, so "frog" came to mean a French person.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Frog came to mean a French person through the stereotypical association of frog legs with French food. en.wiktionary.org
Origin unknown. It may come from Portuguese froco ("flock"), from Latin floccus.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The origin of this sense of frog is unknown. en.wiktionary.org
- Frog may come from Portuguese froco, meaning flock. en.wiktionary.org
- Portuguese froco derives from Latin floccus. en.wiktionary.org
Said to come from "ribbit" (a frog sound) sounding like "rip it."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The knitting verb frog is said to originate in the resemblance between ribbit and rip it. knitty.com
- Ribbit represents a frog's sound. en.wiktionary.org
Probably a softened, altered form of the word "fuck."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Frog probably originated as a softened, altered form of fuck. en.wiktionary.org