double check
noun
a simultaneous check by two pieces in which the moving of one piece to give check also results in discovering a check by another piece.
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double check
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double-check
double-checkverb (used with or without object)to check twice or again; recheck.
double check
1 Americannoun
Chess.
double-check
2
American
[duhb-uhl-chek]
/ ˈdʌb əlˈtʃɛk /
verb (used with or without object)
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double-checks,
present (3rd person singular)
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double-checked,
past participle, past
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double-checking
present participle
noun
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double-checks
plural
double-check
British
verb
noun
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a second examination or verification
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chess a simultaneous check from two pieces brought about by moving one piece to give check and thereby revealing a second check from another piece
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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double-checksimple
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double-checkssimple
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have double-checkedperfect
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has double-checkedperfect
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am double-checkingprogressive
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are double-checkingprogressive
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is double-checkingprogressive
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have been double-checkingperfect progressive
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has been double-checkingperfect progressive
Past
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double-checkedsimple
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had double-checkedperfect
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was double-checkingprogressive
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were double-checkingprogressive
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had been double-checkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of double-check
An Americanism dating back to 1950–55
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.
See Examples For:
It said various errors were found in the record-keeping, with inspectors advising: “He just needs to double check his work.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
He suggested airline passengers double check with their airline to make sure their reservation is intact.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026
Moreover, workers may also have outsize expectations around AI’s automation capabilities, with many of the current tools still requiring workers to double check the completed work for errors.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
"We come down about twice a week, just to double check on them, and to make sure the water is running right."
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
As they both insisted on talking at once, it was some time before either was intelligible; at length Ashburner made out that the excursion had met with a double check.
From The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851 by Various
National Lottery players are being asked to double-check their tickets as one worth £12m has yet to be claimed.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
It means bad AI output compounded by lazy humans who can’t be troubled to double-check.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
He thinks we should have them done somewhere else to double-check.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 27, 2026
I just wouldn’t rely on it for real-time information and would double-check its recommendations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
I pulled up my Latin dictionary to double-check the definition, and that was when I discovered the word had more than one meaning.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Then he double-checks my claim, asking: “The court hadn’t said it in Students for Fair Admissions?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Even though she has filters set up, Tabacnic always double-checks to make sure her matches are actually where the dating app says they are.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
For example, one arm of the AI generates the response, and another instantly double-checks it to make sure it’s safe before letting it through to the user.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2025
That’s why a music conductor I know always double-checks with himself just before he hears “maestro to the pit” and must head to the podium to conduct an opera.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2021
She relieves herself in the sixth-floor toilet and checks her instinct to flush, knowing the toilet will not refill, and double-checks the air to make sure it does not feel warm before continuing.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
After hearing its predictions for the Sweet 16 round I double-checked the data.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
In her letter to the DWP, she said she was concerned that Tamara Logan's benefits were cut in error despite being double-checked before a final decision was made.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
A few years ago you might have double-checked that stat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
The film’s access coordinator Chantelle Nassari also equipped Bode with a fully accessible trailer, double-checked the day’s pathways and ensured the actor had what she needed to be able to perform.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
Lee ran through the figures, double-checked them, and then released the last of his ballast.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
I finished both movies double-checking my watch in astonishment that they really were under an hour and a half.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
The state appears to have presented a figure without fully explaining its methodology or double-checking the information, said Becker, who is a former senior trial attorney in the voting section of the U.S.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024
For him, grappling with the problem properly will involve training people to be more critical about the content they are consuming, including viewing everything with "a healthy scepticism", and double-checking sources.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
By double-checking that the hyperplane function contains squared values, a human can easily verify that the function is positive, which means the trajectory is collision-free, Amice explains.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2024
I fix the blue latex gloves on my hands, double-checking that the Cal Stat is still hanging off the strap on my portable oxygen.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
