纵横交错

• Pinyin: zòng héng jiāo cuò
• Hanzi breakdown: 纵 = 糸 + 从 (vertical); 横 = 木 + 黄 (horizontal); 交 = (intersect); 错 = 钅+ 昔 (interlace/alternate)

Meaning

Criss-crossed; interlaced vertically and horizontally. Describes a complex network of intersecting lines, paths, or structures.

Used for physical infrastructure (roads, rivers, pipes) as well as abstract systems (relationships, organisations, arguments). Conveys a sense of dense, multi-directional interconnection.

Examples

1. 城市地下纵横交错的管网系统每年需要耗费巨资进行维护。 The crisscrossing underground pipeline network in the city requires huge sums every year to maintain.
2. 该地区水网纵横交错，历来是南方典型的鱼米之乡。 The area's waterways crisscross each other, and it has long been a typical southern land of fish and rice.
3. 小说中纵横交错的人物关系让初读者感到颇为困惑。 The novel's tangled web of relationships leaves first-time readers quite confused.

Usage Guide

Context: geography, infrastructure, literature, analysis

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 高铁与公路纵横交错，构成了覆盖全国的现代交通网络。(High-speed rail and highways crisscross each other, forming a modern transport network covering the entire country.)
• 这片湿地内河流纵横交错，生物多样性极为丰富。(Rivers criss-cross this wetland, supporting exceptionally rich biodiversity.)

Don't Say

• 纵横交错的声音 — the idiom describes spatial/structural patterns, not auditory phenomena; use 嘈杂 or 交织 for intertwined sounds

Origin & History

纵横 (vertical and horizontal) + 交错 (interlaced/alternating)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal