criss-cross

Noun

crisscross (countable and uncountable, plural crisscrosses)

1. (countable) A 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
2. (countable) A mark or cross, such as the signature of a person who is unable to write.
3. (countable) A kind of crossword puzzle having no clues or definitions, but only a list of words that must be fitted into the grid.
   • 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
4. (obsolete, uncountable) A child's game played on paper or on a slate, consisting of lines arranged in the form of a cross.

See all 8 meanings of crisscross