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double-cross

 Origin

double cross

 
noun
1.
a betrayal or swindle of a colleague.
2.
an attempt to win a contest that one has agreed beforehand to lose. Compare cross (def. 21).
3.
Genetics. a cross in which both parents are first-generation hybrids from single crosses, thus involving four inbred lines.
Origin:
1825–35

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Double-cross is one of our favorite verbs.
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to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
to flee; abscond:
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

dou·ble-cross

   [duhb-uhl-kraws, -kros]
verb (used with object) Informal.
to prove treacherous to; betray or swindle, as by a double cross.
Origin:
1900–05

Related forms
dou·ble-cross·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To double-cross
Collins
World English Dictionary
double-cross
 
—vb
1.  (tr) to cheat or betray
 
—n
2.  the act or an instance of double-crossing; betrayal
 
'double-'crosser
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

double-cross
1834, from double + cross in the sense of "pre-arranged swindle or fix." Originally to win a race after promising to lose it.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

double cross definition


  1. tv.
    to betray someone. (Originally a more complicated switching of sides in a conspiracy wherein the double-crosser sides with the victim of the conspiracy—against the original conspirator.) : Don't even think about double crossing me!
  2. n.
    a betrayal. (See comments with sense 1.) : It's one double cross Frank is sorry about.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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