dot the i's and cross the t's
UK/ˌdɒt ði ˈaɪz ən ˌkɹɒs ðə ˈtiːz//ˌdɑt ði ˈaɪz ən ˌkɹɔs ðə ˈtiz/
dot the i's and cross the t's verb: to take care of every detail, even minor ones; to be meticulous or thorough; to finish off something close to complete.
Verb
dot the i's and cross the t's (third-person singular simple present dots the i's and crosses the t's, present participle dotting the i's and crossing the t's, simple past and past participle dotted the i's and crossed the t's)
- To take care of every detail, even minor ones; to be meticulous or thorough; to finish off something close to complete.
- Before taking the project to the CEO, let's make sure we dot the i's and cross the t's.
- Pray, sir, what is the object of referring a bill to a committee —merely to dot the i's and cross the t's?1858, United States Congress, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, D. Appleton, page 387; from a January 1820 debate
dot the i's and cross the t's meaning in Persian
dot the i's and cross the t's in Persian
- Take care of every detail
- مراقب جزئیات بودن
Forms of dot the i's and cross the t's
| third-person singular present | dots the i's and crosses the t's |
|---|---|
| present participle | dotting the i's and crossing the t's |
| past participle | dotted the i's and crossed the t's |
| past | dotted the i's and crossed the t's |
| alternative form | dot the i's |
| alternative form | dot one's i's and cross one's t's |
| alternative form | cross the t's and dot the i's |
| alternative form | cross the i's and dot the t's |
Origin of dot the i's and cross the t's
In reference to cursive (joined up) writing, where adding the dot to the letter i and the crossbar to the letter t is done after one reaches the end of the word and thus may be forgotten if one is not being careful.
Questions about dot the i's and cross the t's
- What does dot the i's and cross the t's mean?
- Dot the i's and cross the t's means to take care of every detail, even minor ones; to be meticulous or thorough; to finish off something close to complete.
- What is dot the i's and cross the t's in Persian?
- Dot the i's and cross the t's in Persian is مراقب جزئیات بودن. See Dot the i's and cross the t's meaning in Persian.
- What part of speech is dot the i's and cross the t's?
- Dot the i's and cross the t's is a verb.
- How do you pronounce dot the i's and cross the t's?
- Dot the i's and cross the t's is pronounced /ˌdɒt ði ˈaɪz ən ˌkɹɒs ðə ˈtiːz/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of dot the i's and cross the t's?
- The past tense of dot the i's and cross the t's is dotted the i's and crossed the t's.
Words near dot the i's and cross the t's in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dot the i's and cross the t's (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-dot the i's and cross the t's.ogg, en-au-dot the i's and cross the t's.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dot the i's and cross the t's.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dot_the_i%27s_and_cross_the_t%27s. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.