double-cross
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
double-cross
Where it comes from
First recorded in 1834 from thieves' slang cross (or on the cross) to refer to something dishonest, a play on straight or square: a crook going back on his partners would therefore be crossing the crossers, or double-crossing.
verb double-crosses · double-crossing · double-crossed
- To betray or go back on; to deceive someone after having gained their trust and led them to believe that they were being aided. If you double-cross us, we'll track you down and kill you.
- Of breeding, to cross twice in hybridization, as (A × B) × (C × D); for example, in commercial hybrid seed corn, A through D are classically inbreds, and their grandoffspring is the seed for sale.
noun double-crosses
- An act or instance of deliberate betrayal or deceit, especially in which one party violates a prior agreement or trust with a collaborator. The only problem is that Cosmo accidentally double-crosses the double-cross: By sheer luck he succeeds at the murder and gets away, which leaves the mob in the uncomfortable position of having to do the dirty work of rubbing him out themselves.
- Of a breeding, the hybrid product of double-crossing.
