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.
Jump To:
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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:
Definitely double check with your host to make sure the listing is up to date.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 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
"I would wake up through the night just to double check my phone that I haven't slept through a phone call," his wife added.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
If in doubt, call your insurance company to double check.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025
Instead of this double check upon the King there might conceivably have been more than two, or there might, as originally was the case, have been only one.
From The Spirit of American Government A Study Of The Constitution: Its Origin, Influence And Relation To Democracy by J. Allen (James Allen) Smith
"I've actually pulled off at the side of the road before a bridge just to double-check I'm the right height," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Pickers pluck items from shelves in a prescribed sequence while drivers double-check bagged orders before speeding off on scooters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
The first time he put the camera behind a row of fans, I had to look over the edge of my 3D glasses to double-check that those waving arms weren’t really in my theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
It means bad AI output compounded by lazy humans who can’t be troubled to double-check.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
I double-check the address to make sure I’m in the right place.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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
In Colorado, Dr. Michelle Barron said the consistently low COVID-19 hospitalizations prompted smiles among staff, even as she double-checks the numbers to make sure they’re actually correct.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
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
I wondered if McGregor would have quibbled with his Obi-Wan’s patchy blond beard, but when I went back and double-checked the film, it is that scraggly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
If I hadn’t double-checked the tickets, we would have missed the 9:33 a.m. departure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
After hearing its predictions for the Sweet 16 round I double-checked the data.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
She added: "I double-checked I locked the door. I couldn't work out how he was in my room because I did everything that I would deem to be correct when you stay in a hotel."
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
Still, Cat double-checked that the sliding door was locked before she left.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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
Twinning is a way of double-checking gold is present by drilling next to the place it has been found and taking rock samples.
From BBC ● May 18, 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
“Get dressed and meet me downstairs once you’ve used the privy,” Mama said, picking up a hand mirror and double-checking her own hair, which was as neat and tight as Ophie’s.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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.
