crisscross
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to move back and forth over.
students crisscrossing the field on their way to school.
-
to mark with crossing lines.
verb (used without object)
adjective
adverb
-
in a crisscross manner; crosswise.
-
awry; askew.
verb
-
to move or cause to move in a crosswise pattern
-
to mark with or consist of a pattern of crossing lines
adjective
noun
-
a pattern made of crossing lines
-
a US term for noughts and crosses
adverb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crisscross
First recorded in 1810–20; variant of christcross
Explanation
A crisscross is a pattern of lines that cross or intersect. Your favorite shirt might be printed with pink and purple crisscrosses. You might doodle a crisscross pattern during class or stitch crisscrosses on a quilt. You can also use the word as a verb, meaning to cross in a pattern: "The sidewalks crisscross the city," or "I watched the dogs crisscross the beach." The word dates from the 1800s, from the Middle English crist-cross, or "Christ's cross," which was a mark traditionally made before the alphabet in a schoolbook or primer.
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:
"If we wait, probably in three years, we will not have this landscape as we see it today," environmental activist Zenepa Lika told AFP as she stood above the overgrown channels which crisscross the site.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Shares of the railroad operator, whose rail lines crisscross much of the eastern U.S., were up around 7% after hours on Wednesday.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
Use the tines of a fork to flatten and indent crisscross patterns over the tops of each cookie.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025
As they crisscross the globe this season on their way to the 2026 Winter Games in Italy next February, one of their top priorities is keeping illness at bay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
All the other children in the circle were sitting quietly and tidily, their hands folded in their laps, their legs tucked together crisscross applesauce.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
As a founding partner and chief product officer of Kim Kardashian’s Skims and co-founder and CEO of Khloé Kardashian’s Good American, Grede sports power suits on podcasts and crisscrosses the globe for business engagements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
Feet up on the table, coffee mugs in hand, a bit of casual banter crisscrosses the room.
From BBC ● May 23, 2023
And while he has achieved more than even he thought possible, Cates finds himself on dual missions as he crisscrosses the world.
From Washington Post ● May 2, 2023
As Dragonwagon writes in the new edition, “A cookbook — if people actually make its recipes — has transcendent, earthy aliveness, a sacramental connective tissue that crisscrosses linear time as, I believe, nothing else does.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2023
All around, crooked branches like witches’ fingers make patterns where the sun crisscrosses through.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
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.
