frog

Etymology 1

From Middle English frogge, from Old English frogga, frocga (“frog”), from Proto-West Germanic *froggō (“frog”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk fraug (“frog”), Old Norse frauki. Related also to English frosk (“frog”), frosh (“frog”), and frock (“frog”). Possibly related to Saterland Frisian Poage (“frog”), German Low German Pogg, Pogge (“frog”).

noun

1. Any of a class of small tailless amphibians of the order Anura that typically hop.
   Awesome leather armbands with spikes like two feet long / Hair is parted down the middle, frowning like a frog 2008, Lich King, “Black Metal Sucks”, in Toxic Zombie Onslaught
2. (music) The part of a violin bow (or that of other similar string instruments such as the viola, cello and contrabass) located at the end held by the player, to which the horsehair is attached.
3. (Cockney rhyming slang) Road. Shorter, more common form of frog and toad.
4. The depression in the upper face of a pressed or handmade clay brick.
5. An organ on the bottom of a horse’s hoof that assists in the circulation of blood.
   Coordinate term: sole
6. (rail transport) The part of a railway switch or turnout where the running-rails cross (from the resemblance to the frog in a horse’s hoof).
7. (fishing) A type of fishing lure that resembles a frog.
   `What you need are frogs,' said the veteran. `Fish them at night. There's nothing like them on big cork floats.' 1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 40
8. (politics, slang, derogatory, Malaysia) defector: a politician who simply switches between different political parties.

verb

1. To hunt or trap frogs.
2. (transitive, biology) To use a pronged plater to transfer (cells) to another plate.
3. (transitive, cooking) To spatchcock (a chicken).

Etymology 2

From frog legs, stereotypical food of the French. Compare French rosbif (“English person”), from roast beef, corresponding term for the English, likewise based on stereotypical food; and Kraut for Germans.

noun

1. (offensive) A French person.
2. (Canada, offensive) A French-speaking person from Quebec.

Etymology 3

Unknown. Possibly borrowed from Portuguese froco (“flock”), from Latin floccus (“flock”).

noun

1. A leather or fabric loop used to attach a sword or bayonet, or its scabbard, to a waist or shoulder belt.
2. An ornate fastener for clothing consisting of an oblong button (covered with netted thread), toggle, or knot, that fits through a loop.
   The visitor was about fifty-two years of age, dressed in one of the green surtouts, ornamented with black frogs, which have so long maintained their popularity all over Europe. 1844, Alexander Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

verb

1. To ornament or fasten a coat, etc. with frogs.

Etymology 4

Supposedly from ribbit (“sound made by a frog”) sounding similar to "rip it".

verb

1. (transitive) To unravel part of (a knitted garment) while knitting it in order to correct a mistake.