Word.ws English Dictionary

crossing one's fingers

crossing one's fingers is the present participle and gerund of cross one's fingers.

Meaning of cross one's fingers

Verb

cross one's fingers (third-person singular simple present crosses one's fingers, present participle crossing one's fingers, simple past and past participle crossed one's fingers)

  1. To put the middle finger across the index finger, especially
    • She was seen crossing her fingers in the wedding photo.
  2. when wishing for luck, or
    • I hope everything turns out OK. I'll cross my fingers for you. / I'll cross my fingers that everything turns out OK.
  3. when telling a lie (and attempting to escape the moral and other consequence of that lie).
    • Amanda placed her right hand behind her back and crossed her fingers. Her friend Sarah told her if you cross your fingers behind your back when you tell a lie, it's not a lie. Amanda didn't know if she believed that, but she crossed her fingers anyway.2007, Toni White, Ridge Street Home, →ISBN, page 5

Questions about crossing one's fingers

What is crossing one's fingers the present participle and gerund of?
Crossing one's fingers is the present participle and gerund of cross one's fingers.

Words near crossing one's fingers in the dictionary

  1. crossing my heart and hoping to die
  2. crossing number
  3. crossing numbers
  4. crossing off
  5. crossing one's arms
  6. crossing one's fingers
  7. crossing one's heart
  8. crossing one's legs
  9. crossing out
  10. crossing over
  11. crossing paths

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: crossing one's fingers (page history and authors); cross one's fingers (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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