crisscross

[ kris-kraws, -kros ]

verb (used with object)

1. to move back and forth over:

   students crisscrossing the field on their way to school.

2. to mark with crossing lines.

verb (used without object)

1. to proceed or pass back and forth; be arranged in a crisscross pattern:

   The streets in that part of town crisscross confusingly.

adjective

1. Also crisscrossed. having many crossing lines, paths, etc.

noun

1. a crisscross mark, pattern, etc.
2. tick-tack-toe.

adverb

1. in a crisscross manner; crosswise.
2. awry; askew.

crisscross

/ ˈkrɪsˌkrɒs /

verb

1. to move or cause to move in a crosswise pattern
2. to mark with or consist of a pattern of crossing lines

adjective

1. (esp of a number of lines) crossing one another in different directions

noun

1. a pattern made of crossing lines
2. See noughts and crosses
   a US term for noughts and crosses

adverb

1. in a crosswise manner or pattern

Word History and Origins

Origin of crisscross¹

First recorded in 1810–20; variant of christcross

Example Sentences

As he crisscrossed the nation in the early 1960s raising money and attention for the Southern movement, King joined Northern struggles against school and housing segregation, job discrimination and police brutality.

From Washington Post

Whether I’m wearing it on its own or under a wetsuit, the snug fit and crisscross straps ensure it stays put without sacrificing style.

From Outside Online

Macron’s infection shows how exceedingly complicated it is to contain the second wave in Europe, a region of some 450 million people, many of whom crisscross borders easily, conducting extensive international business.

From Fortune

Giuliani has been crisscrossing the country attending informal hearings held by sympathetic lawmakers in the hope of making the sort of splash on the local scene that he has failed to make nationally.

From Washington Post

Each subject had a list of people I should interview, and I would crisscross the country to interview those folks.

From Ozy

The Israeli-only roads that crisscross the West Bank have come a long way since the beginning of the Second Intifada.

From The Daily Beast

Next week, Brown will fly to Dallas and crisscross the country, stopping in California and Florida.

From The Daily Beast

If I travel 500 miles, I crisscross through five languages.

From The Daily Beast

The peach tart was a form of pie with golden-looking sauce peeping up between crisscross strips of rich puff paste.

From Project Gutenberg

Great bands of cultivated areas crisscross the planet where the soil is of unusual fertility.

From Project Gutenberg

The old oak had been laid in a crisscross pattern, the best support possible in the days when the vaults had been made.

From Project Gutenberg

Lakeville had practiced its deceptive forward crisscross at least one hundred times.

From Project Gutenberg

Wisely, Sheffield called for the forward crisscross that had twice baffled Elkana.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cross
• interlaced
• intersecting
• interwoven
• woven