double cross
a betrayal or swindle of a colleague.
an attempt to win a contest that one has agreed beforehand to lose.: Compare cross (def. 21).
Genetics. a cross in which both parents are first-generation hybrids from single crosses, thus involving four inbred lines.
Origin of double cross
1Words Nearby double cross
Other definitions for double-cross (2 of 2)
to prove treacherous to; betray or swindle, as by a double cross.
Origin of double-cross
2Other words from double-cross
- double-crosser, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use double cross in a sentence
Made from recycled ocean plastics and spandex, this fully lined top features a scoop neck, thick straps, a double cross back, and cut-out holes in the front that allow water to pass through.
The Surf Gear I Rely on from Women-Owned Companies | Rebecca Parsons | January 30, 2021 | Outside OnlineWithout that break, the double cross deception plan which ensured the success of the D-Day landings could never have gone ahead.
Week in Death: The Woman Who Cracked Hitler’s Codes | The Telegraph | November 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOne, the Polish spy Roman Czerniawski, had already changed sides twice before he was brought into the double cross team.
War’s Most Powerful Weapon: Double Agents from WWII to Al Qaeda | Ben Macintyre | July 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe double cross deception may sound like something out of fiction.
War’s Most Powerful Weapon: Double Agents from WWII to Al Qaeda | Ben Macintyre | July 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIndeed, Stalin was better informed about the double cross system than Churchill himself.
War’s Most Powerful Weapon: Double Agents from WWII to Al Qaeda | Ben Macintyre | July 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
It looks to me like Uncle Sam was goin' to get the double cross.
Boy Scouts in the Philippines | G. Harvey RalphsonI should have been forced to double-cross my boss, and I'd have hated it.
Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman | Emma Speed SampsonFormerly pennies were marked with a double cross and crease, so that it might easily be broken into two or four parts.
And I know youre trying to get the logs cheap now, and give them the double-cross.
The Boss of Wind River | David Goodger (goodger@python.org)In all my years and in all my trips over the southwest you are the first westerner to give me the double-cross.
Tales of lonely trails | Zane Grey
British Dictionary definitions for double cross (1 of 2)
a technique for producing hybrid stock, esp seed for cereal crops, by crossing the hybrids between two different pairs of inbred lines
British Dictionary definitions for double-cross (2 of 2)
(tr) to cheat or betray
the act or an instance of double-crossing; betrayal
Derived forms of double-cross
- double-crosser, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with double cross
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]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse