double-cross

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.

double-cross (third-person singular simple present double-crosses, present participle double-crossing, simple past and past participle double-crossed)

1. (transitive) To betray or go back on; to deceive someone after having gained their trust and led them to believe that they were being aided.

   Synonyms: quisle, sell out, stab in the back; see also Thesaurus:betray

   If you double-cross us, we'll track you down and kill you.

   • 1979, First Choice, “Double Cross”, in Hold Your Horses:

     I've been double crossed / By a double dealin', double winnin' / Looks like I'm the one who lost.

2. (transitive, biology, botany, genetics) 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.

double-cross (plural double-crosses)

1. An act or instance of deliberate betrayal or deceit, especially in which one party violates a prior agreement or trust with a collaborator.
   • 1985, Raymond Carney, The Films of John Cassavetes, Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies, page 185:

     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.

2. (biology, botany, genetics) Of a breeding, the hybrid product of double-crossing.

• Michael Quinion (2004), “Double-cross”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.

• double-cross on Wikipedia.Wikipedia