Word.ws English Dictionary

crossing someone's T

crossing someone's T is the present participle and gerund of cross someone's T.

Meaning of cross someone's T

Verb

cross someone's T (third-person singular simple present crosses someone's T, present participle crossing someone's T, simple past and past participle crossed someone's T)

  1. To sail one's battle line across the front of the enemy battle line, allowing one to bring one's full firepower to bear on the enemy battle line while limiting the firepower that the enemy can use in return.
    • No sooner has the fleet settled onto this course than a small group of Japanese cruisers and actual, real, live, all-singing, all-dancing, all-features-included, protected-by-the-Emperor torpedo boats begin to move to cross the T of the Russian fleet. Worried about a torpedo attack on his lead...2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 12:24 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse..., archived from the original on 04 Dec 2022

Questions about crossing someone's T

What is crossing someone's T the present participle and gerund of?
Crossing someone's T is the present participle and gerund of cross someone's T.

Words near crossing someone's T in the dictionary

  1. crossing over
  2. crossing paths
  3. crossing someone's mind
  4. crossing someone's palm
  5. crossing someone's path
  6. crossing someone's T
  7. crossing swords
  8. crossing that bridge when one comes to it
  9. crossing the aisle
  10. crossing the floor
  11. crossing the line

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: crossing someone's T (page history and authors); cross someone's T (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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