# cross

Pronunciation: US/AUS say "KRAWS" /kɹɔs/; UK say "KROS" /kɹɒs/

## Verb

1. To pass over or through something, traveling from one side of it to the far side.
   - Simple: To go over or through something until you reach its other side.
   - _Hikers cross the stream by stepping on a fallen log._
   - _The explorers crossed the desert in just three weeks._
6. To place, lay, or draw one thing across another so that they intersect.
   - Simple: To put or draw one thing over another so that they cross.
   - _He crossed the two beams to form a sturdy support._
   - _Cross the ropes before you tie the final knot._
7. To intersect, as roads or paths do, or to pass one another while traveling along intersecting routes.
   - Simple: To meet and go across each other, as two roads, paths, or travelers do.
   - _The migration routes of the two herds cross at the valley floor._
   - _The cyclists' paths crossed at the busy junction._
11. To conduct a cross-examination; to question a witness called by the opposing side.
   - Simple: To question a witness for the other side in a court case.
   - _The defense crossed the prosecution's main witness aggressively._
   - _Skilled lawyers cross hostile witnesses to expose contradictions._
14. To breed two different varieties or species together, or to fertilize one plant with another.
   - Simple: To breed two different kinds of animals or plants to make a new kind.
   - _Breeders cross wild and domestic strains to improve disease resistance._
   - _Mendel crossed pea plants with different flower colors._
15. To oppose or contradict someone, or to frustrate their plans.
   - Simple: To go against someone or stop their plans from working.
   - _Few employees were brave enough to cross the demanding director._
   - _When she crossed the committee, her proposal was quietly buried._
16. To mark something with an X, as to indicate a choice or a location on a form.
   - Simple: To put an X on something, often to show a choice or a spot.
   - _Voters cross the box beside their preferred candidate._
   - _He crossed each box that applied to him and handed the form back to the nurse._
18. To make the sign of the cross over oneself or over someone or something.
   - Simple: To move your hand in the shape of a cross as a religious sign.
   - _Pilgrims cross themselves as they pass the shrine._
   - _She crossed herself and bowed her head._
21. In football, to kick the ball from a wide position into the area in front of the opponents' goal.
   - Simple: To kick the ball from the side of the field into the space in front of the other team's goal.
   - _She crossed the ball from the right wing into the box._
   - _Good fullbacks cross accurately even while sprinting._
23. To mark a check with two parallel lines so that it cannot be cashed directly and must be paid into a bank account.
   - Simple: To mark a check with two lines so it must be paid into a bank account, not cashed.
   - _He crossed the check with two lines so it had to go into an account._
   - _Bank staff advised her to cross every check she sent by mail._

## Adjective

2. Running crosswise rather than in the main direction, as a street that intersects another does.
   - Simple: Lying across the main direction instead of along it.
   - _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._
13. Bad-tempered, angry, or annoyed. *(British)*
   - Simple: Feeling angry or in a bad mood.
   - _Mum was cross that we'd come home so late._
   - _He gets cross whenever his routine is disturbed._

## Noun

3. 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.
   - Simple: A shape or mark made of two lines crossing, like + or ×, used on forms and seen on flags.
   - _The knight's shield bore an ornate cross at its center._
   - _An eight-pointed cross was stitched onto the banner._
4. 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.
   - Simple: A model or picture of the shape Christ died on, used in churches, on graves, and as jewelry.
   - _Each grave in the old churchyard is marked with a cross._
   - _She wore a silver cross her grandmother had given her._
5. 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.
   - Simple: A post with a crossbar used to kill people by crucifixion, especially the one Jesus died on, often written 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._
8. A movement across something, such as a road or stage, that ends on its opposite side.
   - Simple: The act of going from one side of something to the other.
   - _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._
9. A mixture of two different kinds of things, especially an animal or plant bred from two varieties or species.
   - Simple: Something that is a mix of two different things, such as an animal whose parents are different kinds.
   - _The new café is a cross between a library and a coffee shop._
   - _His music is a cross between jazz and folk._
10. A pass in which the ball is kicked from the side of the field toward a spot near the opponent's goal.
   - Simple: A kick that sends the ball from the side of the field toward the other team's goal.
   - _The winger whipped in a cross that the striker headed home._
   - _A well-placed cross can create a clear scoring chance._
12. A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroads.
   - Simple: A spot where roads meet and go off in four directions.
   - _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._
17. A difficult situation or burden that one has to endure.
   - Simple: A hard problem or burden that someone has to put up with.
   - _The scandal became a cross he carried throughout his career._
   - _She accepted the years of caregiving as her cross._
19. A hand gesture tracing the shape of a cross, made as a sign of religious devotion.
   - Simple: A hand movement that traces the shape of a cross, used in prayer.
   - _The priest made the cross over the kneeling congregation._
   - _She made a hurried cross as she passed the altar._
20. A straight punch thrown with the rear hand, often over the opponent's lead.
   - Simple: A straight punch thrown with the back hand in boxing.
   - _A well-timed cross can end a fight in seconds._
   - _He slipped the jab and answered with a cross._
22. A stroke drawn so that it passes over or through another line, as on a t.
   - Simple: A mark made by one line going across or through another line.
   - _In his rushed notes, the cross on each t floated well above the stem._
   - _The cross on her lowercase f was so long it touched the next letter._
24. A medal or decoration in the shape of a cross, given for courage or outstanding service and often named for its shape.
   - Simple: A medal shaped like a cross, given for being brave or serving very well, and often named for its shape.
   - _She was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading her unit through heavy fire._
   - _The general pinned the cross on the young pilot's chest as the crowd applauded._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A four-way pipe fitting whose branches are normally set at right angles to one another.
- (preposition) Used between two vectors to denote the cross product of the first and the second.
- (noun) A monument marking a crossroads, a use kept in British and Irish place names, for example Charing Cross.
- (noun) A coin bearing a cross design, or the face of the coin that shows it, and by extension money of any kind.
- (noun) Land owned by the church, in old Irish usage.
- (noun) A surveying tool used to set out lines at right angles to a main survey line.
- (noun) On a Rubik's Cube, four edge pieces correctly placed around one face's center, making a plus shape.
- (noun) Card number 36 in the Lenormand fortune-telling deck.
- (noun) An act of treachery or cheating, especially a match thrown on purpose.
- (noun) Gunfire coming from two or more directions at once.
- (adjective) Contrary to or at odds with something.
- (adjective) Unfavorable, running against what one would want.
- (adjective) Running the opposite way, or with the two sides reversed or swapped.
- (adjective) Of the sea, choppy with two sets of waves running at an angle to each other, as when the wind shifts or two storms meet.
- (adjective) Crooked or fraudulent.
- (preposition) From one side to the other of something.
- (verb) To write a second set of lines over a finished page at right angles to the first, a way of saving paper in old letters.
- (verb) At an English university, to put a cross by a student's name in the college kitchen or buttery records, barring them from food and drink.
- (verb) To meet and go past one another while moving in contrary directions, as letters posted on the same day might.
- (verb) In cricket, for the two batsmen to run past one another as they change ends to score.
- (verb) In rugby, to touch the ball down on or beyond the opponents' goal line for a try.
- (verb) To thwart or obstruct someone, shutting them out from something.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cross (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).