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.
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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:
It said various errors were found in the record-keeping, with inspectors advising: “He just needs to double check his work.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 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
It marks, however, a double check to Louis XIV.
From The Conquest of New France A chronicle of the colonial wars by George McKinnon Wrong
"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
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
Brockman asked Dario to double-check a fact on one of his slides for an important meeting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Haymitch and I both have to take a hard look at her face to double-check if she’s joking.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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
And someone on a hydraulic lift double-checks each hanging fixture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2024
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
Jamie double-checks the locks while Dylan checks A’Leia’s gear.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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
After hearing its predictions for the Sweet 16 round I double-checked the data.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
In her letter to the DWP, she said she was concerned that Tamara Logan's benefits were cut in error despite being double-checked before a final decision was made.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
A few years ago you might have double-checked that stat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
I double-checked the laundry room and the back door and the elevator.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
A weekday morning on the South Side, kids waiting for the No. 3 King Drive bus to get to school, parents double-checking backpacks and lunch bags while helicopters churn the sky above.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2025
Laker players looked around the meeting room Saturday morning, double-checking with one another to make sure that what they thought they just heard was what JJ Redick actually said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 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
For him, grappling with the problem properly will involve training people to be more critical about the content they are consuming, including viewing everything with "a healthy scepticism", and double-checking sources.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
I typed up the articles waiting for me on the Linotype’s tray, double-checking after each sentence that I had made no mistakes.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
