puddle jump

plural puddle jumps · alternative puddle-jump

1. A short airplane flight (in a puddle jumper).

   Just a white-knuckled puddle jump away lies the stunningly beautiful. relatively unvisited islands of Samoa.

   2009, Andrew Zimmern, The Bizarre Truth, →ISBN, page 15

   2 more examples

   First, came an uneventful puddle jump to the chaos of LA International, where, surrounded by thousands, I looked out on the tarmac at the massive aluminum monster that was to be my flight to New York.

   2012, DH Koester, And There I Was, →ISBN

   Chance wasn't sure if she was genuinely concerned about Rashawn, trying to avoid conversation about Junior, or truly just nervous about the puddle jump from SFO to PDX.

   2012, Michelle McGriff, Blood Relations, →ISBN

2. A jump over or into a puddle.

   Karen Cornell Wilson Kenya's big red boots were ... great for puddle jumps.

   1975, Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science Sentinel - Volume 77, page 2000

   3 more examples

   Hold the lead in your right hand so the slack is draped against your left thigh, then take a puddle jump with your left leg.

   1993, Pure-bred Dogs, American Kennel Gazette - Volume 110, page 80

   On the work front, Georgie notes: "When I am not accompanying Sam on his puddle jumps, I spend my time at The Field Museum where I am involved with the institution's environmental conservation programs.

   2002, The American Oxonian - Volume 89, Issues 1-2, page 277

   The off-ramp handbrake spin-'n'-sprint, the salt-truck joust, the 10-meter pothole puddle jump — all were good ideas rejected because of logistical problems or the likelihood that we would be sued.

   2003, Car and Driver - Volume 48, page 111

3. A short trip by boat, especially one that remains close to shore.

   The trips aren't long; in fact, the south ferry is barely more than a puddle jump.

   1989, Arthur Frommer, George McDonald, New York State, 1990-91, →ISBN, page 191

   1 more example

   The first time I saw cloudberries on a portage was early on, after several hard short portages and puddle jumps.

   1987, Common Lives, Lesbian Lives - Issues 21-24, page 114

4. A small difference.

   Shepard concluded: ". . . he puts it over as show business, tinkling the piano, puckering and mugging as he goes and making the generation gap seem little more than a puddle jump.

   1969, The Many Worlds of Music

present singular third person puddle jumps · participle present puddle jumping · participle past puddle jumped · past puddle jumped · alternative puddle-jump

1. To take a short flight (on a puddle jumper).

   "Why puddle jump between home and New York?

   2006, Ira Eisenstadt, The Wedding Song, →ISBN, page 178

   2 more examples

   I was concerned that you couldn't get into La Paz at 13,000 feet, and had to go over into Lima and puddle jump out of Lima into La Paz.

   1963, United States. Congress. House. Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1964

   We then "puddle jumped" to the Drake Bay airstrip, on the northern Pacific side of the peninsula.

   2012, Wisconsin Natural Resources - Volumes 36-37, page 12

2. To jump over or into puddles.

   You can puddle jump your way through your walk in the rain.

   2013, Grace Price, PreK-1 Daily Fitness Activities, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Not wanting to puddle jump across the parking lot if I didn't have to, I reached for my cell phone and called the club, only to get a busy signal.

   2002, Big City Blues - Volume 8, Issues 1-2, page 28

   Ange parked fifty yards away and sent the three younger men to puddle-jump and investigate.

   2007, Paul Johnson, City of Kings: The Ongoing Adventures of Casey Jones, →ISBN, page 59

3. To take a short trip by boat, especially one that remains lose to shore

   There are some dandy short cuts up there, if you don't mind puddle jumping. If you figure tide and current right, sometimes you can jump a puddle in a couple of good jumps, with the breakers boosting you.

   1939, Thomas Fleming Day, The Rudder - Volume 55, page 29

4. To move a small distance; to go from one small thing to another.

   States will no longer be able to "puddle jump" among aid categories in order to take advantage of the more general federal matching formulas in some programs.

   1975, The American Legislator - Volume 1, page 116