What does ‘cross your fingers’ mean?
To “cross your fingers” means to hope for good luck. The gesture is very old and is often linked to the sign of the cross made covertly against ill fortune; Brewer's records the folk-belief background.
Origin
- The gesture is very old and is often linked to the sign of the cross made covertly against ill fortune; Brewer's records the folk-belief background.
How to use it
- Very common everyday hope.
- Example: Cross your fingers — the results come out today.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.