Leapfrog

To move ahead rapidly by bypassing an intermediate position or stage.

Reach for it when describing a genuine jump in capability rather than ordinary incremental progress

Community broadband could help rural clinics leapfrog unreliable paper referrals.

• playful

  skip a generation

  a technology replaces an older stage entirely

  not when It applies to generational technology shifts, not one rival passing another.

• everyday

  overtake

  one participant moves ahead of another

  not when Overtake preserves the same path and does not imply skipping a stage.

• warm

  vault ahead

  a sudden energetic gain deserves vivid language

  not when Vault ahead is figurative and offers no detail about the method.

• professional

  accelerate

  the same course proceeds at a faster rate

  not when Acceleration still passes through the intervening stages.

• professional

  bypass

  an obstacle or obsolete step is deliberately avoided

  not when Bypass identifies what is skipped but not the resulting advance.

• formal

  outstrip

  performance grows beyond a comparison point

  not when Outstrip expresses superiority without the shortcut or stage-skipping idea.

• formal

  surpass

  the final standard or rival is exceeded

  not when Surpass says nothing about speed or how the gap was crossed.

• lag
• trail
• regress
• stagnate

• leapfrog competitors

  Reliable service helped the small workshop leapfrog competitors using slower equipment.

• leapfrog a stage

  The modular course lets experienced learners leapfrog a stage they have already mastered.

• leapfrog ahead

  Open standards allowed the region to leapfrog ahead without replacing every device.