# frog

> English word · Noun · IPA /fɹɒɡ/ · frequency rank #8,426

## Definitions
1. Any of a class of small tailless amphibians of the order Anura that typically hop.
2. 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. Synonym of road; clipping of less common 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.
6. 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. The part of a railroad overhead wire used to redirect a trolley pole from one wire to another at switches.
8. A type of fishing lure that resembles a frog.
9. Defector: politician who switches to a different political party.

## Etymology
From Middle English frogge, from Old English frocga, from Proto-West Germanic *froggō (“frog”). Cognate with Old Norse frauki, and Old English frox, frosc, whence Modern English frosh and frosk (“frog”).
Possibly related to Saterland Frisian Poage (“frog”), German Low German Pogg, Pogge (“frog”).
Sense 5 (organ on a horse's hoof) is a calque of Ancient Greek βάτραχος (bátrakhos).

## Easily confused with
- **fry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-fry)
- **from** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-from)
- **fung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-fung)
- **front** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-front)
- **frost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-frost)
- **froze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-froze)
- **frown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-frown)
- **froth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-froth)
- **Fromm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-fromm)
- **Frome** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/frog-vs-frome)
- **fo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fo-vs-frog)
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/for-vs-frog)
- **fox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fox-vs-frog)
- **fig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fig-vs-frog)
- **fog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fog-vs-frog)
- **foe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foe-vs-frog)
- **foo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/foo-vs-frog)
- **fag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fag-vs-frog)
- **fro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fro-vs-frog)
- **Flo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flo-vs-frog)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ffrog`, `forg`, `frgo`, `frogg`, `frrog`, `rfog`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/frog