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[frog, frawg] /frɒg, frɔg/

noun
1.
any tailless, stout-bodied amphibian of the order Anura, including the smooth, moist-skinned frog species that live in a damp or semiaquatic habitat and the warty, drier-skinned toad species that are mostly terrestrial as adults.
2.
Also called true frog, ranid. any frog of the widespread family Ranidae, most members of which are semiaquatic and have smooth, moist skin and relatively long hind legs used for leaping.
Compare (def 2).
3.
a slight hoarseness, usually caused by mucus on the vocal cords:
a frog in the throat.
4.
(often initial capital letter) Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a French person or a person of French descent.
5.
a small holder made of heavy material, placed in a bowl or vase to hold flower stems in position.
6.
a recessed panel on one of the larger faces of a brick or the like.
7.
Music. (def 11b).
verb (used without object), frogged, frogging.
8.
to hunt and catch frogs.
adjective
9.
(often initial capital letter) Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. French or Frenchlike.
[frog, frawg] /frɒg, frɔg/
noun
1.
an ornamental fastening for the front of a coat, consisting of a button and a loop through which it passes.
2.
a sheath suspended from a belt and supporting a scabbard.
[frog, frawg] /frɒg, frɔg/
noun
1.
Railroads. a device at the intersection of two tracks to permit the wheels and flanges on one track to cross or branch from the other.
[frog, frawg] /frɒg, frɔg/
noun, Zoology.
1.
a triangular mass of elastic, horny substance in the middle of the sole of the foot of a horse or related animal.
/frɒɡ/
noun
1.
any insectivorous anuran amphibian of the family Ranidae, such as Rana temporaria of Europe, having a short squat tailless body with a moist smooth skin and very long hind legs specialized for hopping
2.
any of various similar amphibians of related families, such as the tree frog related adjective batrachian
3.
any spiked or perforated object used to support plant stems in a flower arrangement
4.
a recess in a brick to reduce its weight
5.
a frog in one’s throat, phlegm on the vocal cords that affects one’s speech
verb frogs, frogging, frogged
6.
(intransitive) to hunt or catch frogs
/frɒɡ/
noun
1.
(often pl) a decorative fastening of looped braid or cord, as on the front of a 19th-century military uniform
2.
a loop or other attachment on a belt to hold the scabbard of a sword, etc
3.
(music, US & Canadian)

/frɒɡ/
noun
1.
a tough elastic horny material in the centre of the sole of a horse’s foot
/frɒɡ/
noun
1.
a grooved plate of iron or steel placed to guide train wheels over an intersection of railway lines
/frɒɡ/
noun (pl) Frogs, Froggies
1.
a derogatory word for a French person
n.

Old English frogga, a diminutive of frox, forsc, frosc “frog,” from Proto-Germanic *fruska-z (cf. Old Norse froskr, Middle Dutch vorsc, German Frosch “frog”), probably literally “hopper,” from PIE root *preu- “to hop” (cf. Sanskrit provate “hops,” Russian prygat “to hop, jump”).

The Latin word (rana) is imitative of croaking. Collateral Middle English forms frude, froud are from Old Norse frauðr “frog,” and frosk “frog” survived in English dialects into the 19c.

I always eat fricasseed frogs regretfully; they remind one so much of miniature human thighs, and make one feel cannibalistic and horrid …. [H. Ellen Brown, “A Girl’s Wanderings in Hungary,” 1896]

As a derogatory term for “Frenchman,” 1778 (short for frog-eater), but before that (1650s) it meant “Dutch” (from frog-land “marshy land”). To have a frog in the throat “be hoarse” is from 1892, from the “croaking” sound.

fastening for clothing, 1719, originally a belt loop for carrying a weapon, of unknown origin; perhaps from Portuguese froco, from Latin floccus “flock of wool.”

modifier

: frog wine/ a Frog chick (1778+)

noun

Related Terms

big fish, big fish in a little pond, knee-high to a grasshopper

[senses referring to the French fr their eating of frog legs]

(Heb. tsepharde’a, meaning a “marsh-leaper”). This reptile is mentioned in the Old Testament only in connection with one of the plagues which fell on the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:2-14; Ps. 78:45; 105:30). In the New Testament this word occurs only in Rev. 16:13, where it is referred to as a symbol of uncleanness. The only species of frog existing in Palestine is the green frog (Rana esculenta), the well-known edible frog of the Continent.