cross-fade

[ verb kraws-feyd, kros-; noun kraws-feyd, kros- ]

verb (used with object)

, cross-fad·ed, cross-fad·ing.

1. to fade out (an image or sound) while simultaneously fading in a different image or sound.

noun

1. an act or instance of cross-fading.

cross-fade

verb

1. radio television to fade in (one sound or picture source) as another is being faded out

Word History and Origins

Origin of cross-fade¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Hal Ashby and Jack Nicholson’s 1973 bittersweet drama “The Last Detail” proved especially inspiring in its use of transitional “dissolves” that cross-fade slowly from one scene to the next.

From Los Angeles Times

“Then we put Dom in a car driving, dissolve to him at dinner. It was just magic, because you don’t know if the colors are going to work or if the eyes will line up. But we played around in the cutting room until we got the cross-fade just the way we wanted.”

From Los Angeles Times

But there was a disconnect to Mercury Soul that couldn’t be solved, no matter how clean the cross-fade between DJ and orchestra.

From Washington Post

Cutaways to nature’s splendor abound: Mists enfold the mountain; Mr. Casanova mesmerizingly holds one cross-fade from these clouds.

From New York Times

"Spike the music on the corner, and then cross-fade," she directs her team.

From Los Angeles Times