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:
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:
1 more example
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:
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:
2 more examples
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 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:
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:
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:
puddle jump
verb
1
To take a short flight (on a puddle jumper).
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:
"Why puddle jump between home and New York?2006, Ira Eisenstadt, The Wedding Song, →ISBN, page 178:
1 more example
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.
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:
1 more example
You can puddle jump your way through your walk in the rain.2013, Grace Price, PreK-1 Daily Fitness Activities, →ISBN:
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:
puddle-jump
noun
› Alternative form of puddle jump.
1
Usually A short airplane flight
We've waited longer than that for space for a puddle-jump in the U. S.1947, American Aviation - Volume 11, page 25:
And the flight was a long puddle-jump: three-and-a-half hours to Marquette (another Upper Peninsula town), and a layover there before continuing to Hancock.1995, George P. Schwartz, Shareholder rebellion:
1 more example
The cheap-ticketed puddle-jump makes skipping down to PF, a perfect battery charger, but with gaping barrels, tropical water and a tenth of the scene that Hawaii attracts, it's not a bad go for those Westerners willing to endure a sight.2006, Surfer - Volume 47, Issues 4-6:
2
Usually A short trip by boat.
It was no puddle-jump to the next harbor — the water route curved north and west around a peninsula of land marked Punta Eugenia.1986, Valerie Fons, Keep it Moving: Baja by Canoe, page 132:
3
Usually A small difference.
Many baseball players have openly used androstenedione, a muscle-building compound that major league baseball hasn't banned even though it's merely a molecular puddle-jump from anabolic steroids.2007, Eileen Daniel, Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Health and Society, →ISBN, page 265:
puddle-jump
verb
› Alternative form of puddle jump.
1
To take a short flight.
Or suppose at that early hour he'd been forced to fly into Chicago; would he puddle-jump in on a commuter flight or rent a car for the four-hour drive?1984, Tony Chiu, Realm Seven, page 117:
Is there any chance you all can puddle-jump to the reunion?1993, Harvard Business School Bulletin - Volume 69, page 40:
2
To jump over or into puddles.
God wades through the oceans (Job 38:16) like a schoolboy might puddle-jump in his rubber boots while the stars sing at the sunrise of a new day (Job 38:7).2016, David J. Lynden, Fluid with God, →ISBN:
3
To take a short trip by boat
Since we normally puddle-jump close inshore, what is needed is one that puts out a nice narrow pencil of ultrasonic energy ahead.1952, Electronics - Volume 25, page 97:
That you can handle a small runabout is no indication you can skipper a twin-screw yacht; that you can puddle-jump on bay is no indication you can run an inlet.1966, MotorBoating - Sep 1966, page 16:
4
To move a small distance; to go from one small thing to another.
Without a clear set of objectives and a plan for achieving them, you can only puddle-jump from one task to another, leaving lots of things half finished.1993, Pat Roessle Materka, Time in, time out, time enough: a time management guide for women: