Double Cross Definition & Meaning

American

British

Idioms

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Synonyms double cross 1 American

noun

1. a betrayal or swindle of a colleague.

2. an attempt to win a contest that one has agreed beforehand to lose.

3. Genetics. a cross in which both parents are first-generation hybrids from single crosses, thus involving four inbred lines.

double-cross 2 American [duhb-uhl-kraws, -kros] / ˈdʌb əlˈkrɔs, -ˈkrɒs /

verb (used with object)

Informal.

1. to prove treacherous to; betray or swindle, as by a double cross.

double-cross 1 British

verb

1. (tr) to cheat or betray

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

1. the act or an instance of double-crossing; betrayal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 double cross 2 British

noun

1. a technique for producing hybrid stock, esp seed for cereal crops, by crossing the hybrids between two different pairs of inbred lines

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 double cross Idioms

1. A deliberate betrayal; violation of a promise or obligation, as in They had planned a double cross, intending to keep all of the money for themselves. This usage broadens the term's earlier sense in sports gambling, where it alluded to the duplicity of a contestant who breaks his word after illicitly promising to lose. Both usages gave rise to the verb double-cross. [Late 1800s]

Other Word Forms

• double-crosser noun

Etymology

Origin of double cross1

First recorded in 1825–35

Origin of double-cross2

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Then a double cross happens, and Rachel learns what some viewers might have suspected — that one of her colleagues is in cahoots with Keya!

From Salon

It’s all dangerous deals and double crosses, yet it whiffs on an opportunity for an actually interesting double cross that might have made us sit up and pay attention.

From Los Angeles Times

"You can choose to lie to a character, you can help them, you can gain their trust, you can double cross folks," said Ann Morrow Johnson, executive producer and creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering.

From Reuters

Still, the Jefferson dream lives on, in the form of flags — a gold pan and two Xs, a heavy-handed symbol of the double cross — that, during the pandemic, have adorned face masks.

From Los Angeles Times

“I thought they were actually interested in solving this case rather than doing a double cross and running to the house and arresting my client before we can even finish helping them.”

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.