Meanings
present singular third person crisscrosses · participle present crisscrossing · participle past crisscrossed · past crisscrossed · alternative criss-cross
- transitiveTo move back and forth over or through.
As it turned out, the itinerary was disconcertingly illogical, involving criss-crossing America in anything but a straight line.
2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 712 more examples
He told me about all the odd jobs he'd taken after I was born, when Michigan's economy was tanking. For one, he crisscrossed the Midwest buying old carpets from dentists' offices.
2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 112Throughout this period, and beyond, into the rest of the battle, aircraft of various types and loadouts are crisscrossing the skies in desperate harassment attacks, with the pilots having to play constant games of "guess the carrier" to decide where to land as escort carriers are hit, sunk, disappear in columns of shell splashes, or are forced to evade at angles to the wind that make landing on them impossible.
2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 27:22 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022 - transitiveTo mark with crossed lines.
plural crisscrosses · alternative criss-cross
- countableA pattern of crossed lines.
We reach the first barrier, which is like the barriers blocking off roadworks, or dug-up sewers: a wooden crisscross painted in yellow and black stripes, a red hexagon which means Stop.
1985, Margaret Atwood, “Shopping”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 30 - countableA mark or cross, such as the signature of a person who is unable to write.
- countableA kind of crossword puzzle having no clues or definitions, but only a list of words that must be fitted into the grid.
Welcome to the Ultimate Puzzle Challenge — a brand-new series of books for children who love word searches, crisscrosses, mazes, crosswords, and variety puzzles.
2010, Helene Hovanec, Ultimate Puzzle Challenge: Mind Mashers, page 31 more example
A definite advantage of the fact that no fill-in-the-blank sentences are used is that it's very easy for kids to enter their own words and see them instantly transformed into crisscrosses, word searches, and other fun games.
1992, Judy Salpeter, Kids and Computers: A Parent's Handbook, page 213 - obsoleteuncountableA child's game played on paper or on a slate, consisting of lines arranged in the form of a cross.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivemarked with crossing lines
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishcrist-crosse
- Englishcrisscross
From Middle English crist-crosse, crists-crosse (“Christ's cross”). By surface analysis, an apophonic reduplication of cross.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian кръстосвам, мрежа от пресечени линии
- кръстосвам (krăstosvam)move back and forth
- мрежа от пресечени линииpattern of crossed lines
Czech křížem
- křížemcrossing one another
Finnish liikkua ristiin rastiin, risteillä
- liikkua ristiin rastiinmove back and forth
- risteillämove back and forth
- ruuduttaamark with crossed lines
- ristikkopattern of crossed lines
- ruudukkopattern of crossed lines
- ruudukoitumarked with crossed lines
- ristittymarked with crossed lines
- ristiviivattumarked with crossed lines
- ristiin rastiincrossing one another
- pitkin poikincrossing one another
- ristikkäincrossing one another
- ristissäcrossing one another
- ympäri ämpäricrossing one another
French sillonner
- sillonnermove back and forth
German kreuz und quer
- kreuz und quercrossing one another
Hungarian cikázik, cikcakkvonalban halad
- cikázikmove back and forth
- cikcakkvonalban haladmove back and forth
- ide-oda jármove back and forth
- keresztül-kasul bejár/beutazmove back and forth
- keresztezmark with crossed lines
- kereszttel/keresztekkel jelölmark with crossed lines
- cikcakkpattern of crossed lines
- cikcakkvonalpattern of crossed lines
- keresztvonáspattern of crossed lines
- keresztpattern of crossed lines
- cikcakkosmarked with crossed lines
- cikcakk alakúmarked with crossed lines
- keresztbe-kasulcrossing one another
- ide-odacrossing one another
- összevisszacrossing one another
- keresztbecrossing one another
Indonesian serang-serong, menyilang
- serang-serongmove back and forth
- menyilangmark with crossed lines
Italian incrociarsi, intersecarsi
- incrociarsicrossing one another
- intersecarsicrossing one another
Latin intercursō
- intercursōmove back and forth
Māori kōpiko, whitiwhiti
- kōpikomove back and forth
- whitiwhitimove back and forth
- rakapikipikipattern of crossed lines
- rakapikipikimarked with crossed lines
Russian крест-на́крест
- крест-на́крест (krest-nákrest)crossing one another
Swedish härs och tvärs, kors och tvärs
- härs och tvärscrossing one another
- kors och tvärscrossing one another
Cite this entry
crisscross. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crisscross
“crisscross.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crisscross. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crisscross,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crisscross.
Source: crisscross on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.