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• double cross
  double cross

  noun

  a betrayal or swindle of a colleague.
• double-cross
  double-cross

  verb (used with object)

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

double cross

¹ American  

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.

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double-cross ² American  

[duhb-uhl-kraws, -kros] / ˈdʌb əlˈkrɔs, -ˈkrɒs /

verb (used with object)

Informal.

double-crosses, present (3rd person singular) double-crossed, past participle, past double-crossing present participle

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

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double-cross ¹ British  

verb

1. (tr) to cheat or betray

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noun

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

double cross ² British  

noun

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

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double cross Idioms  

1. 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]

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• double-crosser
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• double-crossing
  present
• double-crossed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• double-cross
  simple
• double-crosses
  simple
• have double-crossed
  perfect
• has double-crossed
  perfect
• am double-crossing
  progressive
• are double-crossing
  progressive
• is double-crossing
  progressive
• have been double-crossing
  perfect progressive
• has been double-crossing
  perfect progressive

Past

• double-crossed
  simple
• had double-crossed
  perfect
• was double-crossing
  progressive
• were double-crossing
  progressive
• had been double-crossing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will double-cross
  simple
• will have double-crossed
  perfect
• will be double-crossing
  progressive
• will have been double-crossing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of double cross¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Origin of double-cross²

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Then a double cross happens, and Rachel learns what some viewers might have suspected — that one of her colleagues is in cahoots with Keya!

From Salon • Aug. 14, 2023

"You can choose to lie to a character, you can help them, you can gain their trust, you can double cross folks," said Ann Morrow Johnson, executive producer and creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering.

From Reuters • Feb. 25, 2022

Still, the Jefferson dream lives on, in the form of flags — a gold pan and two Xs, a heavy-handed symbol of the double cross — that, during the pandemic, have adorned face masks.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 21, 2021

This hyper-stylization—the heady rhythm of the fast-flying dialogue, the pre-ordained double cross, the cynicism—keeps the overwrought and overearnest in check.

From Slate • Dec. 4, 2013

Not since the days of George Blake's double cross had the CIA found itself in such a hall of mirrors.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau