crisscross

American  

[kris-kraws, -kros] / ˈkrɪsˌkrɔs, -ˌkrɒs /

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.

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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 crisscrossed 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 British  

/ 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

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adjective

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

noun

1. a pattern made of crossing lines

2. a US term for noughts and crosses

adverb

1. in a crosswise manner or pattern

Etymology

Origin of crisscross

First recorded in 1810–20; variant of christcross

Example Sentences

Another user, @wesleybrennan87, posted a photo of two airplane contrails crisscrossing the sky through a break in the fog.

From Los Angeles Times

Use the tines of a fork to flatten and indent crisscross patterns over the tops of each cookie.

From Salon

The push for power supremacy is transforming remote expanses of Inner Mongolia, a Texas-like landscape of wide-open spaces now dotted with thousands of wind turbines and crisscrossed by transmission lines.

From The Wall Street Journal

Taipei is ringed by mountains and crisscrossed by rivers.

From The Wall Street Journal

The morning frost glistens, and—in a clever device—the low sun glimmers through a row of unseen, leafless trees behind the artist, casting crisscrossing, rhythmic shadows on the furrows.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cross
• interlaced
• intersecting
• interwoven
• woven