DictionaryAI

cross

KRAWS/kɹɔs/UKKROS/kɹɒs/

Verbcrosses, crossing, crossed

Adjectivecrosser, crossest

Noun pluralcrosses

46 meanings of cross

Practice

  1. 1
    go acrossverbtransitive
    To pass over or through something, traveling from one side of it to the far side.

    Hikers cross the stream by stepping on a fallen log.

    The explorers crossed the desert in just three weeks.

    UsageThe verb needs no preposition, cross the street; the preposition is across: walk across the street.

    Similartraverse, ford, negotiate

    Note

    Almost anything with two sides can be its object: a street at the lights, or the "dainty, rustic bridges" of the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897).

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The Celebrity was written by the American novelist Winston Churchill. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Celebrity contains the exact phrase “dainty, rustic bridges”. gutenberg.org
  2. 2
    adjective
    Running crosswise rather than in the main direction, as a street that intersects another does.

    The avenues run north to south, and the numbered cross streets run east to west.

    Give the taxi driver the address and the nearest cross street.

    UsageUsed before a noun: cross street, cross beam. Such pairs may be written open, hyphenated or solid (crossbeam).

    Similartransverse, crosswise

    Oppositelongitudinal, parallel

    Note

    An adjective that stands before its noun: cross benches linking rows of seats, and "the cross refraction of the second prism" in Isaac Newton's Opticks (1704).

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  3. 3
    emblem (shield)nouncountable
    A shape or mark made of two lines or bars crossing each other, such as + or ×, from a mark on a form to named designs such as the Maltese cross.

    The knight's shield bore an ornate cross at its center.

    An eight-pointed cross was stitched onto the banner.

    Note

    Heraldry turns the plain figure into a family of named designs, and the names follow no single pattern. Some put the descriptive word first (Maltese cross), some put it after (cross potent, cross moline), and some use a phrase (cross of Lorraine). On a shield or banner, the shape and finish of the arms tell one cross from another, so the qualifier is never decoration.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Heraldry has developed numerous variants of the basic cross. en.wikipedia.org
    • Maltese cross, cross potent and cross moline are established heraldic names illustrating different positions of the descriptive word. theheraldrysociety.com
    • Cross of Lorraine is an established name for a heraldic cross. en.wikipedia.org
    • The qualifiers distinguish cross designs by their geometry, including the treatment of the arm ends. en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4
    nouncountable
    An image or model of the cross on which Christ was crucified, used as a Christian symbol in religious buildings, on graves, in jewelry, and elsewhere.

    Each grave in the old churchyard is marked with a cross.

    She wore a silver cross her grandmother had given her.

    UsageA crucifix also shows the figure of Christ; a plain cross does not. With a capital, the Cross means the one of the Crucifixion.

    Similarcrucifix

  5. 5
    noun
    An upright post with a crossbeam on which people were executed by crucifixion, especially the one on which Jesus died, often capitalized in that sense as Cross.

    Victims of crucifixion could hang on the cross for hours, or even days, before they died.

    In the Gospel accounts, soldiers forced a passerby named Simon to carry the cross to Golgotha.

    UsageUsually the cross, often written the Cross: Jesus died on the cross.

    Note

    With the, and sometimes a capital letter, the word singles out one cross, the one on which Christ died, and through it the faith itself. Walter Scott's The Vision of Don Roderick (1811) writes "Before the Cross has waned the Crescent's ray," setting the two symbols against each other as stand-ins for whole religions. In this meaning the borrowed word pushed aside native Old English rōd, which survives as rood.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

  6. 6
    verbtransitive
    To place, lay, or draw one thing across another so that they intersect.

    He crossed the two beams to form a sturdy support.

    Cross the ropes before you tie the final knot.

    UsageCommon with body parts: cross your arms, cross your legs. Cross your fingers means hope for luck.

  7. 7
    verbintransitive
    To intersect, as roads or paths do, or to pass one another while traveling along intersecting routes.

    The migration routes of the two herds cross at the valley floor.

    The cyclists' paths crossed at the busy junction.

    UsageOften paths cross: our paths crossed means we met, usually by chance.

    Similarintersect, meet, converge

    Oppositediverge

    Note

    No object here: the movement is defined by another traveler's path rather than by something being traversed. Seamanship builds rules on it: when two power-driven ships cross, the one approaching from starboard holds its course and the other gives way. Everyday English keeps the same idea in paths that cross, where two routes meet without either one being the thing crossed.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • This overstates Rule 15. When two power-driven vessels in sight of one another cross with a risk of collision, the vessel with the other on her starboard side must keep clear. The other has stand-on duties, including collision avoidance when necessary. legislation.gov.uk
  8. 8
    nouncountable
    A movement across something, such as a road or stage, that ends on its opposite side.

    The director added a slow cross downstage so the actor ends up beside the window.

    Her long cross to the window gave the audience time to read her face.

    Similarpassage, traverse, transit

  9. 9
    blendnouncountable
    A mixture of two different kinds of things, especially an animal or plant bred from two varieties or species.

    The new café is a cross between a library and a coffee shop.

    His music is a cross between jazz and folk.

    UsageUsually a cross between one thing and another, often softened with a sort of.

    Similarhybrid, mix, mixture, blend, combination

    Note

    Here the breeder's word is applied to everything else. Lord Dufferin's Letters from High Latitudes (1857) tones the ancient Viking down into "a sort of a cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy Diddler."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Lord Dufferin wrote Letters from High Latitudes. gutenberg.org
    • Letters from High Latitudes was first published in 1857. en.wikipedia.org
    • Dufferin's narrative contains the quoted comparison, with the exact names and wording given. gutenberg.org
  10. 10
    soccer passnouncountable
    A pass in which the ball is kicked from the side of the field toward a spot near the opponent's goal.

    The winger whipped in a cross that the striker headed home.

    A well-placed cross can create a clear scoring chance.

    UsagePlayers whip in, send in or deliver a cross; teammates head or meet it.

    Similarcenter

    Note

    In football, the cross is the winger's delivery into the danger area, and teammates wait to meet it. In Chris Whyatt's BBC report of Chelsea against Bolton (2010), Florent Malouda "slotted in a cross from Drogba." Slotting in a cross means scoring from it, not supplying it. The act of delivering it is the verb.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Chris Whyatt wrote a BBC report of Chelsea against Bolton in 2010. en.wiktionary.org
    • The report describes Florent Malouda using the exact quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
  11. 11
    question witnessverbtransitive
    To conduct a cross-examination; to question a witness called by the opposing side.

    The defense crossed the prosecution's main witness aggressively.

    Skilled lawyers cross hostile witnesses to expose contradictions.

    Similarcross-examine, question, interrogate

    Note

    Courtroom shorthand, clipped from cross-examine. The witness belongs to the other side, so the questioning is adversarial by design, and counsel may press with leading questions.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Cross-examination involves questioning the opposing party's witness within an adversarial process. malaysianbar.org.my
    • Leading questions are ordinarily permitted during cross-examination. sccourts.org
  12. 12
    nouncountable
    A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroads.

    At the cross, one road climbs into the hills while the other three run down toward the coast.

    The old pub stands at the cross, right where the coast road cuts across the mountain road.

    Similarcrossroads, junction, intersection

    Note

    A word that lives on in maps: many UK and Irish place names keep it, though it is not always clear whether a crossroads or a standing cross is meant. Where a monument once stood at the junction, as at Charing Cross, the name comes instead from the memorial cross itself.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Cross occurs in many UK and Irish place names. en.wiktionary.org
    • A place name may leave uncertain whether a crossroads or a standing cross is meant. clog.glasgow.ac.uk
    • The Cross element in Charing Cross refers to the monument formerly standing at the junction. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Eleanor monument had the overall form of a spire of diminishing stages; describing the whole monument as cross-shaped is inaccurate. gutenberg.org

More uses

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of cross apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English cross, from Old English cros ('rood, cross'), which came via Old Norse kross and Old Irish cros from Latin crux. The non-religious sense of 'two intersecting lines' developed from the late 14th century.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

  • English cross comes from Middle English cross and Old English cros, meaning 'rood, cross'. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English cros was borrowed through Old Norse kross and Old Irish cros, ultimately from Latin crux. en.wiktionary.org
  • The non-religious intersecting-lines sense developed from the late 14th century. en.wiktionary.org