Piggybacking

noun, verb

noun, verb ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act or process by which someone piggybacks.; Riding on someone else's back. uncountable

    "No piggybacking or other horseplay is allowed in the hallways."

  2. 2
    The act or process by which someone piggybacks.; Transport involving vehicles arranged in an analogous way. uncountable
  3. 3
    The act or process by which someone piggybacks.; Inappropriately gaining entry into a restricted area, past a checkpoint, by tagging along behind another person who is authorized. uncountable

    "The security team watches who comes through the door, and they will stop anyone who is seen piggybacking behind a badgeholder."

  4. 4
    The act or process by which someone piggybacks.; Joining in an activity that is initiated or led by someone else. uncountable

    "Piggybacking on others' innovations seems to be his only plan for success."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of piggyback form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
tailgating

Example

More examples

"The strategy is light on legislative or funding promises, mostly piggybacking on existing laws and funds."

Etymology

See piggyback.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.