double cross

¹

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

[duhb-uhl-kraws, -kros]

verb (used with object)

Informal.

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

double-cross

¹

verb

1. (tr) to cheat or betray

noun

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

double cross

²

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• double-crosser noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of double cross¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Origin of double cross²

First recorded in 1900–05

Idioms and Phrases

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]