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单词 cross
释义

Definition of cross in English:

cross

noun krɒskrɔs

  • 1A mark, object, or figure formed by two short intersecting lines or pieces (+ or ×)

    place a cross against the preferred choice
    Example sentencesExamples
    • The center of the cross indicates the position of the breakpoints with moderate precision.
    • With the pointed end of a potato peeler or a small, sharp knife, cut out the core of the tomatoes and lightly mark a cross on their undersides.
    • It was a map of Hillcrest, marked with numerous crosses.
    • If George W Bush had enjoyed the right to vote in this country two weeks ago he would have thought twice about putting his cross against any candidate representing the Conservative Party.
    • The cross represents the masculine side of his face, the nought represents the feminine side.
    • They will not meekly give up their power simply because of a few million crosses on pieces of paper.
    • Knead it well then shape it into a ball, cut a cross into the centre, place in a bowl and cover.
    • All I did was put pencil crosses on pieces of paper and put them in a ballot box.
    • How can they ever expect conditions to change when a short trip to a polling station to mark a cross on a voting paper might make all the difference, but is too much for them?
    • When giving a guest the map of Mantua, why not indicate with a cross where the restaurant you've booked for him is located?
    • She cut an improvised cross from the head of a cork and dampened the ash by adding water.
    • The ancient Egyptians had the cross as a religious symbol of their Gods.
    • Trapping was carried out in the reedbed with 147 m of mist nets arranged in two lines forming a cross.
    • The small cross indicates the position of the Earth when at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in early January.
    • It is understood that a street map of Brussels with a number of places marked with crosses - including a street near the embassy - was found on him.
    • Opponents have halted plans for voters in York's next local elections to place their crosses by post.
    • The yellow outline and magenta cross mark the best guess of the RADAR team at the location of the Huygens DISR images.
    • Torvald checks his letter box and finds some letters and two Business cards from Dr. Rank with black crosses on them.
    • Cut a small cross in the top of each pie, insert a sprig of thyme and lightly brush with milk.
    • Initially voters were required to mark as many crosses as there were vacancies and the candidates with greatest support, usually from the same party, were elected.
    • Watch any low budget pre-election television show, lay back and listen while the terminally dumb mumble their excuses for not being able to put a cross on a piece of paper and pop it into a battered tin box.
    1. 1.1 A cross (×) used to show that something is incorrect or unsatisfactory.
      the class sat quiet, waiting anxiously for the verdict—a tick or a large cross
      Example sentencesExamples
      • And there's ticks and crosses to indicate everyone's preferences.
      • Put a cross against the wrong answer.
      • Use a green tick if the best option was chosen, a yellow tick for a partially correct answer, and a red cross for a totally wrong answer.
    2. 1.2 A cross-shaped decoration awarded for personal valour or indicating rank in some orders of knighthood.
      the Military Cross
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Since that time there have been a total of 1,354 crosses awarded.
      • He failed to rise in rank beyond corporal, but was awarded the Iron Cross for military bravery.
      • Dempsey served on the Western Front and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
      • Myles proved to be a valiant soldier and was awarded two Papal emblems, a medal and a cross at the end of the war.
      • During his career, he was awarded the Iron Cross by the German army for bravery.
      • Seven among them were awarded St. George's crosses, the highest and most coveted military order in czarist Russia.
    3. 1.3 The constellation Crux.
      Also called Southern Cross

  • 2An upright post with a transverse bar, as used in antiquity for crucifixion.

    Example sentencesExamples
    • This runs counter to the Synoptic story which has the soldiers compelling Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross to Golgotha.
    • They replaced a decaying wooden Celtic cross that was in a dangerous and hazardous state.
    • Before the cross became a Christian symbol, it already symbolized torture in the Roman Empire.
    • His duties even called on him to be the first person to try out the cross for the Crucifixion scene.
    • On that occasion an oak cross, on which a neighbour of Raonaid had inscribed her favourite poem, was marked with a knife.
    • May that which is unholy within me be nailed to the sacrificial cross of crucifixion and may that which pleases you be raised in the holy and blessed hope of the ressurection.
    • He is shown as a man who was reluctant to carry the cross, forced by the Romans to do so.
    • It was a deep black and similar to a Christian cross, except that the top half of the cross had been intersected thrice more, each line smaller than the last.
    • He has also carried a cross that was 4m long and 2m wide for thousands of kilometres around Australia.
    Synonyms
    crucifix, rood
    1. 2.1 The cross on which Christ was crucified.
      the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross
      Example sentencesExamples
      • This was an expression of all the sins of the world put into one cup and poured out on Christ while He was on the Cross.
      • Your old sinful life was put to death on the Cross with Jesus, and buried with him in the grave.
      • It is because the dogwood was used for the Cross, it is said, that it has not grown straight, or to a large size ever since.
      • The lintel shows Jesus carrying the cross on the way to Calvary.
      • I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to cleanse me from sin.
      • Just when we figure out the cross and empty tomb, something happens to remind us that Jesus' death and resurrection are a mystery.
      • These include a fragmented image of the crucifixion with parts of Christ's body in pieces around the cross.
      • He used his own pain, following the example of Christ on the cross, to share with compassion the pain of others.
      • The cross of Jesus Christ reveals that the very heart of God is mercy and forgiveness.
      • As Jesus hung upon the Cross, He hung there as the representative Man - the last of the Adamic race.
      • Christ encountered her at the very entrance of the church, all bloody and nailed to the Cross.
      • At least twenty people have offered to sell me a piece of the true cross.
      • The cross of Christ, theologically speaking, was not an end in itself.
      • The foundation of the Church is always the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
      • Everything you have ever done wrong was placed on Jesus as He hung upon the Cross.
      • An eternal transaction was taking place as Jesus was dying on the Cross.
      • As opposed to the resurrection, the cross symbolises crucifixion.
      • The Cross of Christ is the centre of God's entire plan of redemption.
      • That's why, with time, they started to represent the Christ with a beard and later, they represented him on the cross.
      • He could have saved himself, but he did not for it was through his death on the Cross that God was going to save the world.
    2. 2.2 A cross as an emblem of Christianity.
      she wore a cross around her neck
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Meanwhile, through an open doorway, the reader can see hundreds of crosses lining the general's backyard in neat rows.
      • In England, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday; they are marked on top with a cross, either cut in the dough or composed of strips of pastry.
      • Though our foreheads are marked with a black, ashen cross, Matthew warns us to practice our piety in secret.
      • She was no longer biting her fingernail, but fidgeting with the gold cross on a chain around her neck.
      • A bible hung from his belt, and he wore a cross around his neck.
      • The life-size crosses and figures of saints were one of the great forms of benefaction in the eleventh century and are described in churches across England.
      • It is proposed to build, plaster and cap a perimeter wall and erect a Cross on completion of the work.
      • He buried them out back, behind the small cabin, forming two wooden crosses out of pieces of wood, spliced together with strips of rawhide.
      • A special prayer around the Cross for young people takes place for the Lenten Season.
      • Lulu wears a tiny gold cross around her neck.
      • This day provides an opportunity to acknowledge grief and sorrow, and to teach why Christians use a cross as a symbol.
      • Like many of the troops I met during the war, she wore a cross around her neck.
      • The cross as a symbol of Christianity is everywhere.
      • He said this cross was built in the 1950s to mark a holy year.
      • One way she does this is by stripping down, multiplying, and opening up the central symbol of Christianity, the cross.
      • Dozens of people turned up on Otley Chevin at the weekend to help pull the Easter Cross into place.
      • Noting my covetousness, a native woman lifted her cross off her neck and placed it around mine.
      • Above them a cluster of crosses mark graves and beyond them a few people cross onto a ship.
      • To the early Christians and Byzantines, it was called the gammadion cross, and it figured prominently in their artwork.
      • A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks.
    3. 2.3
      short for sign of the cross (see sign)
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He muttered what sounded like a prayer and made a cross on himself.
      • His hand touched his forehead, then tapped the front of his black suit three more times to form a cross.
      • She bowed her head and made a cross over her chest in reverence of the departed woman.
      • Then he stands straight and with his left hand holding out his staff towards us, makes a cross in the air, speaking the ritual he has been taught for occasions such as this
    4. 2.4 A staff surmounted by a cross carried in religious processions and on ceremonial occasions before an archbishop.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He was extremely poor, illiterate and kept himself to himself, but liked attending church processions and carrying the cross or the pictures of Saints.
      • Leading the procession and holding the cross aloft were Mrs. Anne Enright from the western side and Patrick Egan from Tarmons side.
      • They then carried a cross through the streets to the Methodist Church for a united act of worship led by the Rev Mary Teed.
      • Only one of the items shown, the painted processional cross mentioned earlier, was loaned by another museum.
      • With his left hand he supports over his left shoulder a staff topped by a cross, and holds an open scroll with an inscription written in black in Greek capitals.
      • The two illustrated here are probably St Barbara with the tower and martyr's palm, and an unidentified bishop-saint carrying the Greek Orthodox cross.
      • Then the Vicar-General and some of the Franciscan fathers came ashore carrying two crosses in procession and singing the Te Deum.
      • On the following day the cross will be carried by the youth of the area to the Cathedral.
    5. 2.5 Something unavoidable that has to be endured.
      she's just a cross we have to bear
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Like all of us he too carried crosses - he found it very hard to accept the long illness of his father Murty whom he found difficult to even visit at times.
      • No human should have to endure the cross of suffering.
      • David's mother carried thoughts of Michael around like a cross.
      • He may well be left to carry the cross he so recklessly laid on the shoulders of others.
      • If that was what it took, I had to accept it and carry the cross.
      • He also died suddenly at a young age in 1987, and this was a big cross for Aggie to carry at the time.
      • I pray they can carry their particular cross as we all carry ours.
      • All the suffering they endured they accepted as their way of carrying the cross.
      • Who are those who are willing to carry their cross and die daily?
      • She always had a bright outlook on life even up to the end and carried bravely any crosses sent her way, including the death of her daughter, Ann in 1998.
      • It was during their short time in Shrule prior to moving to Cong that they suffered a great cross with the sudden death of their only child, Ann Marie, at the age of two years.
      • But no sane person can tell me that a mother deserves to be made carry the cross that Mrs. McGinley now carries.
      • Sincere faith and fortitude in the will of God gave him the strength to carry his cross.
      • The lone researcher bears a large emotional burden, and there is simply no denying that this is a cross many PhD students will have to carry.
      • We therefore call upon all troublesome nurses to quit being callow in our hospitals, carry the cross and emulate Nightingale, the mother of nursing.
      • She trusted him, of course, but it was her secret, her burden, her cross to bear.
      • This feeling coupled with the feeling of guilt that they are in some way or fashion responsible for their charge's condition is indeed a difficult cross to bear.
      • She said he had carried his cross in silence and with dignity and they had helped each other along the way.
      • Many crosses he was to carry before his passing to his eternal reward at the age of 90 years.
      • You had many a cross to carry but you carried on and helped me to carry my cross so many times.
      Synonyms
      burden, trouble, worry, trial, tribulation, affliction, curse, bane, hardship
      vicissitude, misfortune, adversity
      millstone, albatross
      misery, woe, pain, sorrow, suffering, torment
      thorn in one's flesh, thorn in one's side
      informal hassle, stress, headache
      archaic cumber

  • 3An animal or plant resulting from cross-breeding; a hybrid.

    a Galloway and shorthorn cross
    Example sentencesExamples
    • These bitsy buds are a cross between broccoli and gai lan.
    • Most hybrid striped bass that consumers purchase are a cross between female white bass and male striped bass.
    • The farm's herd is a cross between the indigenous Wagyu and another quality export from Scotland, the Aberdeen Angus.
    • That clone was created from a cross between two strains from North and South Germany that were distinct from the clones we analyzed here.
    • Draft animals, especially the ubiquitous dzo, a cross between a yak and a cow, play a central part in the farming economy.
    • The first step is to make a cross between two parent plants.
    • Grandifloras are a cross between hybrid teas and floribundas.
    • Hybrids such as the mule, a cross between a donkey and a horse, are sterile.
    • He said animals had to be 16 hands 3ins minimum and a cross between a heavy working breed and a thoroughbred.
    • We assume that the parents that initiate the cross are pure inbred lines.
    • A genetic map constructed using a cross between the two M. grisea strains used in this study revealed a high degree of synteny between the two genomes.
    • Hybrids are more difficult to spot because they are a cross between the native and Spanish varieties, and the colours vary in shades
    Synonyms
    hybrid, hybridization, cross-breed, mixed breed, half-breed, half blood, mixture, amalgam, blend, combination, composite, conglomerate
    mongrel, cur
    1. 3.1a cross between A mixture or compromise of two things.
      the system is a cross between a monorail and a conventional railway
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It is a cross between a corporation and a partnership.
      • His face was growing old quickly, his hair a cross between gray and brown.
      • Clearly, the closer a family car resembles a cross between a combine harvester and a rocket launcher, the happier today's families are.
      • It's been described as a cross between orienteering and sailing, of course with the extra dimension of being able to go up and down, something you don't wish to do in a sailing boat.
      • Weblogs, or blogs for short, are a cross between a diary, a web site, and an online community.
      • The jail was a cross between a political headquarters and an industrial plant.
      • He describes his life as a cross between being a GP, vicar and social worker - ‘which is fine, but not very challenging’.
      • His hair was scraggly and slightly curly, its color a cross between brown and black.
      • Orchestral life, at its best, is a cross between summer camp and labour camp.
      • That place was like a cross between hell and jail.
      • He led her out of the bedroom and into something that looked like a cross between a library, a laboratory, and a study.
      • This is the ideal present for someone with a slightly sadistic nature as a cross between a plant and a pet.
      • The movie becomes a cross between a serious life drama and a quirky romantic comedy.
      • He was an imposing figure, a cross between Humpty Dumpty and a brigadier, who had rowed hard in his youth.
      • It's a brilliant cross between stealth, puzzle and platform genres that you really have to play to believe.
      • In many respects, this form of analysis represents a cross between a psychological profile and stereotyping.
      • Covered only from waist down by white sheets, they evoked a cross between Greek statues and hospital patients.
      • It's a cross between rap and line dancing if you can categorise it at all.
      • With their five-wheel frame and their medium-height buckle cuff, they are a cross between a racing skate and recreational one.
      Synonyms
      mixture, blend, mingling, combination, compound, fusion, composition, concoction, brew, alloy, merger, union, amalgamation, amalgam, coalition, hybrid

  • 4Soccer
    A pass of the ball across the field towards the centre close to one's opponents' goal.

    Beckham's low cross was turned into the net by Cole
    Example sentencesExamples
    • His limp cross was kicked towards the Leeds goal by Ian Harte and only a smart save by Nigel Martyn kept things equal.
    • He creates so many goals for others with his precision crosses and his sweeping through balls.
    • Only a few minutes had gone when the Welshman flung in an inviting right-foot cross to the back post.
    • The former Rochdale man delivered a pin-point low cross for top-scorer Foster to turn home from close range.
    • He looks in an off-side position but the linesman disagrees, and so he can ping another cross in.
    1. 4.1Boxing A blow given with a crosswise movement of the fist.
      a right cross
      Example sentencesExamples
      • The messages from Moore's brain to the rest of his body were immediately scrambled by the perfectly timed right cross, and Moore fell down to the canvas in a heap.
      • He had an excellent one-two combination and a surprisingly stiff right cross, which enabled him to score a number of early knockouts.
      • Jason kneed him in the stomach before following the blow with a right cross to his mouth.
      • Faster than I could recover, he whipped his massive fist into a right cross that took me in the jaw.
      • He was very mobile for a man his size and he had a pretty fair right cross.
verb krɒskrɔs
[with object]

  • 1Go or extend across or to the other side of (an area, stretch of water, etc.)

    she has crossed the Atlantic twice
    two paths crossed the field
    figurative a shadow of apprehension crossed her face
    no object we crossed over the bridge
    Example sentencesExamples
    • The vehicle sped away, going through red traffic lights at 50 mph in a 30 mph area before crossing the Pheasant roundabout on the wrong side.
    • She crossed to the left side of the road before going on to Coltman Street.
    • Then turning again toward Christina, a frown crossed the woman's stern features.
    • He stretched enormously, crossed to the washstand, and poured hot water into the basin, then frowned.
    • When they had crossed to the far side of the square, they came to a straw colored building with a thatched roof.
    • Residents were also concerned that it would mean children having to cross New Road Side - even though the council has said a pedestrian crossing would be installed.
    • His car crossed to the wrong side of the road and collided with a tree.
    • She quickly crossed to the other side of the street and walked towards her house.
    • But to get there you have to cross a treacherous stretch of water called Jack Sound.
    • Rivers and streams along the routes of the Roman roads were crossed by bridges.
    • In their separate rooms, the exact same smirk crossed both of their faces.
    • The glint of a smile briefly crosses his face when asked if he's ready for the playoffs.
    • A single road crosses the area.
    • Sarah ended her vigil at Sofia's side and crossed the room to her fiancé.
    • A weak, forced smile crossed the bruised and grimy face, " Hey.
    • Determined, she waited for a clear road before crossing the busiest stretch in the city to the other side.
    • I crossed to the other side of the road, and went along that one for a while.
    • It was also hazardous for pedestrians to cross Cemetery Road, and she suggested traffic lights and a pelican crossing were needed.
    • As all three crossed to the other side of the road, Daniel saw a speeding car, then heard the sound of a car hit Michael.
    • We crossed to the other side of the balcony, where there was a second door.
    Synonyms
    travel across, go across, cut across, make one's way across, traverse, range over, tramp over, wander over
    negotiate, navigate, cover
    span, bridge, arch, ford
    go across, extend across, stretch across, pass over, arch over, vault over
    1. 1.1 Go across or climb over (an obstacle or boundary)
      he attempted to cross the border into Jordan
      no object we crossed over a stile
      Example sentencesExamples
      • The drivers' biggest challenges will be the Western Sahara with no metalled roads and crossing a minefield in Mauritania.
      • But persuading our English neighbours to cross the Border is a bigger problem than anyone thought.
      • Police are reminding all motorists they should not attempt to cross the barriers if they are in any doubt about the safety of the conditions.
      • When I was at school and less than well behaved, a yell in the ear and slap of the ruler on my wrist told me I'd crossed the boundaries of acceptability.
      • Tens of thousands of mobile phone customers are believed to be caught in the trap of incurring international charges every time they cross the Border for work and leisure.
      • She managed to cross all obstacles on the medium course, and liked it so much that she decided to try the big one too.
      • The alleged bomber claims to have illegally crossed the Mexican border into the US.
      • They said a policeman kicked a civilian when he attempted to cross the barriers set up at the corner of Queen and Henry Streets.
      • The row erupted among a group of about 10 men - at least two of whom had crossed the nearby Border from the south.
      • How fluently can creative artists cross global boundaries?
      • Asking spectators to cross national boundaries, and especially seas, is putting far to heavy a financial burden on them.
      • Police officers were stationed along the route every hundred yards preventing anyone from crossing the boundary.
      • They then crossed the border and got into a vehicle, which drove them to France.
      • The trolley is fitted with a sensor which is triggered if it crosses the supermarket's boundaries, causing a shield to drop down over the wheels and stop the runaway cart.
      • I hope this will be an opportunity to cross international boundaries and express practical help and love for those who are bereft and homeless.
      • At the time the Russians said he had been shot by a border guard while crossing the frontier with Finland.
      • I didn't get a sense of having crossed some life-changing boundary.
      • Hundreds die during attempts to cross the borders illegally.
      • First of all, any architectural or engineering work has a technical or practical purpose, for example to span a river, to cross an obstacle.
      • The quest to bring John Lillie to justice took around 10 years and crossed international boundaries.
      Synonyms
      travel across, go across, cut across, make one's way across, traverse, range over, tramp over, wander over
    2. 1.2cross overno object (especially of an artist or an artistic style or work) begin to appeal to a different audience, especially a wider one.
      a talented animator who crossed over to live action
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He writes true-to-life books, which cross over well from a teenage to adult audience.
      • When he crosses over to painting from his preferred medium of printmaking, his sensibility is divergent and different.
      • People find it very difficult to deal with subject matter that crosses over from one pigeonhole into another.
      • Her music may be deep-rooted in the teen market but her image crosses over into the adult market where she is often shown on adult magazine covers posing seductively while still maintaining an ‘innocence’.
      • His album is out there at the moment getting people used to the raw style, which is always lost as an artist crosses over into the mainstream market.
      • They may have been featured on the South Bank Show, but the duo have been trying to cross over to a mass audience for a while now without much success.
      • I think our music crosses over because we're tapping into a romantic yearning that so many people have.
      • They were obviously trying to play down the gay content and cross over to straight audiences.
      • ‘Christian rock’ is its own musical genre in America, but it rarely crosses over into the mainstream.
      • The publishers believe this is a book that crosses over from business into pop culture.
      • It is a really great toy and it crosses over lines - people who are religious like it because it is a historical Jesus and is not a parody in any way.
      • This time the four-time Grammy award-winner crosses over into the genre of jazz with his first album of standard tunes.
      • Art is symbolic, and crosses over into many different genres.
      • When these niche products are successful with a broad audience, of course, the marginal crosses over into the mainstream.
      • It may be the film that finally crosses over to the mainstream.
      • That could also mean that high art is agnostic or that it crosses over to all faiths.

  • 2no object Pass in an opposite or different direction; intersect.

    the two lines cross at 90°
    Example sentencesExamples
    • Our paths never crossed again after playgroup anyway.
    • There were two tubes crossing in different directions.
    • Noticing this, he squeezed in as close as possible to the vehicle he was passing and we crossed with no more than a couple of feet to spare.
    Synonyms
    intersect, meet, join, connect, criss-cross, interweave, intertwine
    1. 2.1with object Cause to intersect or lie crosswise.
      cross the cables in opposing directions
      Michele sat back and crossed her arms
      Example sentencesExamples
      • In addition, he showed how to decode body language: crossing one's legs when sitting was a sign of uneasiness, while standing with one's legs wide apart was the hallmark of a braggart.
      • He casually settled into a worn orange couch, and crossed his long, lithe legs.
      • Setting the tray down in the middle of the rug, David sat, crossing his legs.
      • ‘You're forgetting one very important thing,’ implied Tyler, crossing his lean, tanned arms.
      • He sat down, crossed and uncrossed his legs, and tried to pick up the flagging vibe.
      • He waved his hands back and forth for a few minutes before jumping onto the bed and sitting on his with his legs crossed underneath him.
      • I crossed my legs Indian-style and took a drag of my cigarette before asking him what it was about.
      • Sitting down, and crossing her legs she closed her eyes and concentrated.
      • Both of her arms crossed each other across her chest, the daggers she held lay lazily over her shoulders on each side.
      • He fidgets in his chair like a man unaccustomed to sitting still, crossing and uncrossing his legs, slipping his socked feet underneath him.
      • I crossed my room and flicked on my stereo, turning it up as loud as it could then I sat on my bed with my legs crossed underneath me.
      • She crossed her long thin legs and rested her chin on her hands.
      • He crossed his well toned arms as looked her up and down, and made no move to hide his snicker.
      • ‘The same thing I told the last three guys that came in here,’ she said, crossing her arms tighter across her chest.
      • Finally Emily sat back down on the couch next to Reese, crossing her bony, slender legs as she spoke.
      • Gem crossed her two, graceful arms over her raised chest.
      • Her long floral dress bunched up as she crossed her long tan legs.
      • He sat back, crossed his own supple young arms and watched, awe struck by the creative process of life.
      • He leans back, placing his hands on the back of his head and crossing one of his legs over the other.
      • She pulled a nearby seat in front of her and stuck her legs on it, crossed one upon the other, and sipped the drink.
    2. 2.2 (of a letter) be dispatched before receipt of another from the person being written to.
      our letters crossed
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It would appear that our letters crossed and I therefore repeated this request on 15th May.
      • A letter from Alstom also of 18 June probably crossed with that letter.
      • Maybe the letters crossed over in the post.

  • 3Draw a line or lines across; mark with a cross.

    voters should ask one question before they cross today's ballot paper
    Example sentencesExamples
    • She told me to heighten the letter i and to cross my t's so that the horizontal bar is equally long on both sides of the vertical line.
    1. 3.1British Mark or annotate (a cheque), typically by drawing a pair of parallel lines across it, to indicate that it must be paid into a named bank account.
      a crossed cheque
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Anyone wishing to contribute as requested to should have cheques crossed and made payable to the Athletic Club.
      • The holder is entitled to cross a cheque even if an original crossing, usually printed on the cheque, has been opened by the drawer.
      • Subcontractors are also advised to pay workers by auto pay or crossed cheques.
      • Extreme caution is needed where cheques are crossed and marked account payee only.
      • This means that it is at the risk of the bank to accept a crossed cheque into someone else's account when it is written in favour of somebody else, which means that banks don't generally accept them.
    2. 3.2cross someone/something off Delete a name or item on a list as being no longer required or involved.
      Liz crossed off the days on the calendar
      Example sentencesExamples
      • And if they dismiss you as some kind of lunatic, cross them off your holiday list and go spend the money you would have spent on their gift on yourself.
      • Oh, and we can cross Erica off the list of suspects now.
      • Quebec election bureaucrats have started crossing names off nomination papers with great and possibly unfair abandon.
      • He told me, and I nodded, understanding, while mentally crossing Oliver off the list.
      • Depending on your allergy, you can automatically cross some restaurants off your list.
      • The auction will make the perfect opportunity to gather some Christmas presents and cross some names off that list.
      • Since then each day seems to have rolled into another before I've had chance to catch my breath and cross things off the To Do List.
      • He couldn't hear or see anyone, so he took the liberty of crossing a name off the paper.
      • Personally, I'd be glad to cross that worry off the list.
      • The students roar with approval, and, even though the principal expels her and crosses her name off the ballot, her fellow students reject the two ‘major’ candidates and vote for her anyway.
      • He looked down at the words he had written in the notebook and crossed a name off a list that was just starting to grow.
      • A guy had a whole table of laboratory glassware and I was able to cross an item off my list of lifetime goals: I now own a bell jar.
      • Don't cross me off the social list just yet, though.
      • He also crossed his name off of the list of the dead.
      • The New Orleans Saints are the obvious pick but all of us are rooting for them so let's cross them off the list.
      • If you're still sending a card to someone you haven't seen since Guide camp, it's probably time to cross them off your list.
      • I was asked to go and cross my name off the list, because Gordon Copeland knew I was here.
      • Jack Shanahan watched as the guard crossed his name off the list at the doorstep of Belle Henderson's three story home.
      • If you really want to help, volunteer to make dinner or do laundry so Mom can cross a few things off her list.
      • Incidentally I wasn't serious when I suggested we and our friends might cross North Dakota off our list of prospective holiday destinations this summer.
    3. 3.3cross something out/through Delete an incorrect or inapplicable word or phrase by drawing a line through it.
      cross out any portions which do not apply
      Example sentencesExamples
      • People will cross out words and write above them.
      • All the rest was crossed out because it was meaningless, self-serving guff - like this column.
      • Sheets that showed a translator writing lines, crossing them out, going back to what he crossed out… What a library would give for them today!
      • So if the previous occupant had had his mail redirected and received this letter, what's to stop him from crossing out my name?
      • Edith relaxed, sinking back into her chair, crossing out something she had written on her notepad and exhaling.
      • The last words were crossed out and new wording was substituted in manuscript.
      • On one line, all but three words were crossed out, replaced with a phrase.
      • He said he had made a mistake and crossed that figure out and had written the correct amount of $590.17.
      • If a section does not apply to you, cross it through with a line and the words ‘not applicable’.
      • There's a piece of contributory evidence here: Manningham started to write ‘Mid’, then crossed it out and wrote ‘Twelve Night’.
      • A nameless person after my own heart had crossed out the extraneous apostrophe and written a comment berating the person for not knowing how to use the English language.
      • What they told me to do is take a pen, cross out the address, write ‘Does not reside’, and then put it back in the box.
      • I wrote down something that I was just about to do (go pick up my ticket to Flipside), and then crossed it out.
      • Jacob pondered on this for a moment, and then he responded: it's okay, if you don't know a word, just cross it out.
      • But then, he called Labaton back to clarify, saying that the problematic phrase was in an earlier draft, he had noticed it and crossed it out.
      • He gave a nod and picked up his pen, starting halfway down the page without crossing out what he'd written before.
      • I pause every so often to cross something out, or try to pick the best word to use.
      • You can read it anywhere, you can highlight words or cross them out and scribble your own comments alongside.
      • But I never crossed his number out of my phone book.
      • Shann had written her name, then crossed it out, then written it again in tiny letters above it, then crossed that out.
      Synonyms
      delete, strike out, strike through, ink out, score out, scratch out, block out, blank out, edit out, blue-pencil, cancel, eliminate, obliterate
      technical dele

  • 4cross oneself(of a person) make the sign of the cross in front of one's chest as a sign of Christian reverence or to invoke divine protection.

    Beatie crossed herself quickly at the mention of the dead
    Example sentencesExamples
    • Strangers and friends cross themselves as the funeral begins.
    • Then the bishop came forth, crossed himself briefly, and bowed his head.
    • She crushed the list against her chest and crossed herself.
    • As the preacher crossed himself, the church bell began to toll.
    • Many people integrate religious practice into their daily lives, crossing themselves while passing a church or entering to light a candle, pray, or meditate.
    • I crossed myself, I greeted the priest, I kissed his hand, and my father understood.
    • Ted said thanks for the evening and Mary crossed herself and invoked some sort of biblical curse.
    • He kneels down, crosses himself, without being aware of it, and clasps his hands, prayer-like.
    • She addresses her prayers to Catholic saints, crosses herself, and has a collection of Catholic iconography.
    • At 11 am, there are already about a hundred people inside, and still they are coming, crossing themselves as they enter, kissing a picture of Christ next to which is a bunch of bluebells.
    • He used his dampened fingers to cross himself (forehead, chest, each shoulder) and then motioned for Loryn to do the same.
    • The queen closed her eyes with a prayer of thanksgiving, quickly crossing herself as she rose to her feet.
    • The priest, who was hovering nearby, crossed himself.
    • She would pray when she returned home from his studio, and she would cross herself in front of La Madre de Dios in the evenings as she made her way back to him.
    • It allowed online visitors to kneel to pray, cross themselves and perform an arm-raising ‘hallelujah!’
    • But how many viewers noticed the winning jockey Graham Lee crossing himself?
    • The old Irish priest crossed himself and slunk back away from the computer.
    • Quickly, he crossed himself, and knocked on the wooden bed frame as he sat back down on it.
    • Their names and histories were changed, often several times, and woe to the children who failed to remember which name was current, or to cross themselves, or to say recently learned Christian prayers.
    • I walked towards the hooded figure who had been crossing himself and stood in front of him, palms facing out to indicate that I offered no threat.

  • 5Soccer
    Pass (the ball) across the field towards the centre when attacking.

    he could not get to the line to cross the ball
    no object Powell crossed from the left
    Example sentencesExamples
    • Luis Garcia escapes down the right wing and crosses the ball into the Chelsea penalty area.
    • Germany attack down the left, the ball is crossed and Lukas Podolski tries a volley from inside the D of the Italy penalty area.
    • Frank Foley went on a run from centre back, crossed the ball into the square for Thomas Doyle to equalise.
    • His ability to cross the ball and pass it over very long distances absolutely astonishes people.
    • From the ensuing free-kick wide on the right, the ball is crossed in to the Italy penalty area.

  • 6Cause (an animal of one species, breed, or variety) to breed with one of another species, breed, or variety.

    many animals of the breed were crossed with the closely related Guernsey
    Example sentencesExamples
    • It's actually a hybrid between two species, so it's rather like crossing a donkey with a horse: what you get is strong but it's completely sterile.
    • The novel is like science fiction crossed with an SAS adventure.
    • First, the two breeds described previously were crossed, followed by 10 generations of random mating.
    • The barb was taken to Spain by the Moors in the eighth century, and was crossed with local mares to produce the Andalusian.
    • He's a Clydesdale cross, crossed with a standard breed.
    • The story of his life, at least as he tells it, reads as if Kafka had been crossed with Dostoevsky with a dollop of magical realism thrown in for good measure.
    • What do you get if you cross a carrier pigeon with a woodpecker?
    • This was observed when two wallaby species, Macropus eugenii and Wallabia bicolor, were crossed.
    • Merino ewes, grown for their wool, are crossed with a meat breed, such as a border Leicester ram, to produce so-called first-cross meat sheep.
    • The horses are usually Irish draught crossed with thoroughbred, a combination with a reliable temperament, and arrive at Hutton aged four.
    • Similar results have been obtained by crossing Pachon and Subterraneo cavefish.
    • She is now working with her third puppy Maple, a curly coated Retriever crossed with a Labrador.
    • The Long-hair was crossed with the spaniel and an old German gun dog, the Stoberhund.
    • The latest craze among dog fanciers: Poodles crossed with other breeds.
    • The South American bee was crossed with the African bee, the idea being to create a more ‘resistant’ bee, a hardy all-weather insect.
    • Arabian stallions were crossed with a few English mares at the end of the 17th and start of the 18th centuries to produce the thoroughbred.
    • Males from Oregon-R and 2b were crossed with virgin females from each deficiency strain.
    • During the 15th and 16 centuries, it was crossed with the sheep dog to provide strength, and later various hounds to obtain more speed.
    • If we get to the point where we can make the offspring viable and fertile, then what I think we should do is attempt to cross lions with successively smaller felines until we create a male housecat with a mane.
    • These felines are hybrids first bred from crossing a wild small leopard cat of Asia with a domestic cat.
    1. 6.1 Cross-fertilize (a plant)
      a hybrid tea was crossed with a polyantha rose
      Example sentencesExamples
      • In the past, perennial species have been crossed with sunflower and most of the improvements in sunflower have been the result of crossing with Jerusalem artichoke.
      • This male was crossed with the female cultivar Hayward to produce the F 1 population.
      • They have been crossed with other Asian species to produce the plants now cultivated.
      • Sixty-one triploid F 1 plants were crossed with diploid pollen donors for testcrosses.
      • A rice japonica variety, Nipponbare, was crossed with an indica variety, Kasalath.
      • These native American species have since been crossed with V vinifera to form new varieties, and among themselves to produce the rootstocks used in modern viticulture.
      • Many of today's hybrids have been crossed with Lilium regale.
      • These are the roses that were crossed with the tea rose of China to form the hybrid tea.
      • A total of 23 flowers were crossed, and 33 flowers were submitted to mixed pollinations.
      • Often the transgenic crop will be crossed with existing parents to produce an improved variety.
      • Zao 18 was crossed with the SMV-susceptible cultivar Lee 68 to study the inheritance of resistance.
      • The frequency of embryo formation was similar to that obtained by crossing wheat with maize pollen.
      Synonyms
      hybridize, cross-breed, interbreed, cross-fertilize, cross-pollinate, intercross, mix, intermix, blend

  • 7Oppose or stand in the way of (someone)

    no one dared cross him
    Example sentencesExamples
    • She likes her own way and is unforgiving if slighted; one journalist who crossed her subsequently found many other powerful doors were slammed in his face.
    • Brigid herself was the only one who dared to cross this woman.
    • In his last years he was able to pick off those who had crossed him, reward those who had stood by him, and enjoy a quiet life at last.
    • And he can make so much trouble if he doesn't get the elections he wants that it is not worthwhile crossing him.
    • So then, you've got PMS, and you're on the warpath, and you know that anyone who dares to cross you in any way, gets it!
    • No one dared to cross her - if Madeline didn't like you, it got pretty ugly.
    • You might want to do it if your aim was not only to discredit the story but to discredit the source and discourage others from crossing you.
    • Lately, he's taken to assailing university officials who dare to cross him on this explosive issue.
    • He wants her to explain why everyone who crosses her gets injured.
    • Now that he had free range over his powers to do whatever he wanted with them, the men dared not cross him.
    • The smile that said I dare you to cross me and see what happens.
    • Too late they discover that Hale is an underworld crime lord, and that crossing him results in an inevitable slow and painful death.
    • Most importantly remind them of who's in control now and that they don't want to cross me.
    • After suing anyone who dared to cross him, Douglas was finally imprisoned himself for libeling Winston Churchill.
    • Next time everyone will be against you, because you will have led them to expect that there will be no penalties for crossing you.
    • Those who crossed him 12 months ago are not easily forgotten.
    • There would be little quarter given to anyone who crossed him.
    • He has a daughter, I pity her husband if he crosses her.
    • You will experience a sense of liberation for the rest of your working life and be able to spit in the eye of just about anyone who crosses you - a great and abiding pleasure.
    • If someone crosses me I do like revenge, so watch out.
    Synonyms
    oppose, resist, defy, thwart, frustrate, foil, obstruct, impede, hinder, hamper, block, check, deny, contradict, argue with, quarrel with
    stand up to, take a stand against, take issue with, put up a fight against, set one's face against, fly in the face of
    formal gainsay
    rare controvert
adjective krɒskrɔs

  • Annoyed.

    he seemed to be very cross about something
    Example sentencesExamples
    • When he said, brusquely, that he was exceedingly cross, he was given nice things to smell and eat, with kindest expressions of condolence.
    • She said it with such conviction that her words, her cross tone, her stern expression - they are all burned in my memory.
    • However, he can become cross or frustrated on occasion and he will sometimes resort to hitting himself or talking to himself.
    • I remember being terribly cross with him, but he got away with a great deal because of his personal charm.
    • He added he was very cross and would stay mayor until the next council meeting on June 2 even if his brother returned wanting to take over office.
    • Yes, you might be able to tell, I am feeling quite cross with the world at large.
    • I go to the door in my pants and slippers, very cross indeed.
    • Folks will be even crosser when they can't take a shower because your shortsighted bulldozing of environmental protections has dirtied most of the water and dried up the rest.
    • I went to them to see if they were interested but I just got a Dear John-type letter back which made me quite cross.
    • Now I think I was more cross with my mum than I was with my dad for not being there - I was definitely Daddy's little girl.
    • Their father sounded really cross this time.
    • ‘She chatters away and gets very cross when she doesn't get her own way,’ laughs Katherine.
    • First, there is a new writ - and this time not from a cross landlord but from a large, impatient bank.
    • I am also cross that there may have been an assumption that private day nurseries are all just a licence to make money.
    • No one will get cross with you because you're too tired - they don't want you to faint halfway through a concert or anything.
    • It does make her cross now when young women moan about their husbands being away for three months.
    • I have had the honour of knowing Roger for many years, and I can assure you that you have made a large number of people very cross through your careless choice of insulting words.
    • The driver couldn't get them open again so he was quite cross.
    • It's not like he gets extra attention for doing it - after all, I'm not then able to play with him while I go into repair mode yet again, and I end up feeling very cross and resentful.
    • We promised to meet for coffee, and then suddenly, my station arrived and the train vomited me up onto the platform in a crowd of cross commuters.
    Synonyms
    angry, annoyed, irate, irritated, in a bad mood, peeved, vexed, upset, irked, piqued, out of humour, put out, displeased, galled, resentful
    irritable, short-tempered, bad-tempered, hot-tempered, ill-humoured, surly, churlish, disagreeable, irascible, touchy, snappy, snappish, impatient, peevish, petulant, fractious, crotchety, grouchy, grumpy, querulous, cantankerous, testy, tetchy, crabby, captious, splenetic, choleric, dyspeptic, waspish
    informal mad, hopping mad, wild, livid, as cross as two sticks, apoplectic, aerated, hot under the collar, riled, on the warpath, up in arms, foaming at the mouth, steamed up, in a lather, in a paddy, fit to be tied
    British informal shirty, stroppy, narky, ratty, eggy, not best pleased
    Northern English informal mardy
    North American informal sore, steamed, bent out of shape, soreheaded, teed off, ticked off
    Australian/New Zealand informal ropeable, snaky, crook
    West Indian informal vex
    British informal, dated in a bate, waxy
    vulgar slang pissed off
    North American vulgar slang pissed
    literary ireful, wroth

Phrases

  • as cross as two sticks

    • Very annoyed or irritated.

      she was as jumpy as a cat and as cross as two sticks
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Here I am, tired, hot and as cross as two sticks (British expression - get it - like two sticks are crossed, you know to make an X - har har - never mind…)
      • And he came home next day dragging one foot after another, with a wizened face and as cross as two sticks.
      • ‘It could do that and still freeze you to death,’ I says, as cross as two sticks.
      • Because of this I have been as cross as two sticks for the last couple of hours and my pain and anger has led me to eat cake when I am supposed to be detoxing.
      • It is then that that he gets very frowny and shouty and looks as cross as two sticks, like Geoff, though not as sexy.
      • Jo is as cross as two sticks today.
      • I really get as cross as two sticks when I get to a city and find out they have forgotten that it should be possible for bikes to pass without great difficulties.
      Synonyms
      angry, annoyed, irate, irritated, in a bad mood, peeved, vexed, upset, irked, piqued, out of humour, put out, displeased, galled, resentful

  • at cross purposes

    • Misunderstanding or having different aims from one another.

      we had been talking at cross purposes
      Example sentencesExamples
      • In the past such people were disorganized and often at cross purposes, in both political parties and no political party.
      • At the same time, it needs to ensure that other policies - such as transport policy - are pulling in the same direction rather than working at cross purposes.
      • All of these ‘villains’ act independently at times, and often at cross purposes.
      • I think we're talking at cross purposes here pal, that's the one I bought a few weeks ago, hence the fifteen quid well spent.
      • And those two goals are at cross purposes with each other.
      • Well, i don't think this's going anywhere, but it's a shame, as I still get the impression we're talking at cross purposes.
      • He was genuinely concerned that the Spurs affair might re-open the wounds that were patched up last season when he and the player were at cross purposes for a time.
      • I suspect the opposing sides may be at cross purposes at times, and that a solid working definition could clarify the debate.
      • Well, it looks like the sheriff and the DA are at cross purposes with one another.
      • The script is a series of vignettes, short dialogues in which people often talk at cross purposes to each other, sometimes to comic effect, sometimes not.
      Synonyms
      conflicting, in conflict, contrasting, incompatible, irreconcilable, antithetical, contradictory, clashing, contrary, different, differing, divergent, dissimilar, disagreeing, in disagreement, at odds, at cross purposes, at loggerheads, opposed, opposing, opposite, in opposition, poles apart, polar, at outs

  • cross one's fingers

    • Put one finger across another as a sign of hoping for good luck.

      we will be keeping our fingers crossed that a quick thaw is on its way
      Example sentencesExamples
      • She clambered into the boat and, crossing her fingers that this crazy experiment would work, began to row.
      • However all concerned are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that the work will be completed.
      • So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that it's a little bit light enough in the morning to burn those clouds off.
      • This year, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope all will be well.
      • If nothing unlucky happens to you today, cross your fingers and touch wood because it's only six months until the next Friday the 13th.
      • Jamilla kept her fingers crossed and it wasn't long before her innermost prayers were answered: she got an opening to play overseas.
      • We kept our fingers crossed that the rain would continue, and when it did we planted broad beans, broccoli, and radishes which are now thriving.
      • I'm crossing my fingers for the best, and holding my breath until March 26.
      • We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that the blood tests will prove negative.
      • Or they may decide to keep their fingers crossed until their renewal date and hope that no major disaster strikes.
      Synonyms
      hope for the best

  • cross the floor

    • Join the opposing side in Parliament.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • He was once a Labour councillor in the city, but crossed the floor to join the Tories.
      • Thus, it was not a new development, when, after the 2001 elections, a handful of members of Parliament crossed the floor from opposition parties to the ruling MMD party.
      • Indeed, within a few weeks Churchill crossed the floor of the House from the Conservative benches to join the Liberals.
      • He was succeeded by Shaun Woodward, a director of party public relations, who later crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join the Labour Party.
      • In 1900 he entered the House of Commons as a Conservative but crossed the floor within four years to join the Liberals on the issue of free trade.
      • If just eight Government members were willing to cross the floor, the will of this parliament, the will of our democracy would prevail.
      • Since then four more Labour councillors have crossed the floor of council chambers around the country to join Respect.
      • Having crossed the floor to become a Liberal in 1904 (as a free trader opposed to tariff reform), Churchill became president of the Board of Trade four years later.
      • Basically, the Tory MP approached the Liberals because he and his wife, Nina (also an MP) wanted to cross the floor and join the government.
      • The cardinal crime in the Labor calendar has traditionally been ‘to rat’; that is, to cross the floor and join the opposition.

  • cross my heart (and hope to die)

    • Used to emphasize the truthfulness and sincerity of what one is saying.

      I'm deadly serious—cross my heart and hope to die
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Next time, cross my heart, I promise to share the recipe for my Super-Duper Mint Fudge Walnut Divinity!
      • Honey I swear… I will not take any assignments… I know our last vacations were cut short… But this will be different… I promise cross my heart…
      • I promise that I won't laugh - cross my heart, hope to die.
      • I had to cross my heart and swear to die and even then promise to do to her no harm before I could convince him.
      • Our cows, cross my heart, have the choice of their own vets while local horses have no need to wait for elective surgery.
      • ‘I understand entirely, cross my heart hope to die,’ he said seriously.
      • I promise myself, cross my heart hope to die, that I will never again get into a car when Grant is behind the wheel.
      • Just tell me the truth and I cross my heart, I won't tell anyone else in the world.
      • Well this time I mean it, honest, cross my heart hope to die.
      • ‘I can tell you with the utmost truth, cross my heart and hope to die and all the rest of it, one Sunday night we heard Tokyo Rose and her propaganda broadcast,’ says Don, now aged 75.

  • cross one's legs

    • Place one leg over the other while seated.

      I crossed my legs and leaned back in my chair
      Example sentencesExamples
      • I crossed my legs through my whole wait.
      • I have often said, when she comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs.
      • She was from Texas, she said, crossing her legs.
      • She leans back in her chair, lazily crossing her legs.
      • She sat down on my unmade bed and crossed her legs.
      • She sat down in a chair opposite his own and crossed her legs.
      • She fled back to the stoop, seating herself there, crossing her legs.
      • Crossing her legs at her ankles, she lifted her gaze to her older sister expectantly.
      • Meanwhile, those who can't cross their legs shouldn't get too worried.
      • Setting the tray down in the middle of the rug, David sat, crossing his legs Indian-style.

  • cross one's mind

    • (of a thought) occur to one, especially transiently.

      it had not crossed Flora's mind that they might need payment
      Example sentencesExamples
      • But despite all of this, and despite the 16-page pullout supplement, Canada never even crosses my mind as a holiday destination.
      • He is unflinching mentally: ‘I don't think about what's happened to me in the past and it never crosses my mind when I'm playing I might get hurt.‘
      • Let's face it, if these things were easy to do, we would do them when the idea first crossed our mind.
      • When I ordered the poster the potential for this problem crossed my mind but I dismissed it out of hand.
      • Getting her own flat only fleetingly crosses her mind.
      • That was the last thought that crossed his mind before his mind shut down and he drifted into blissful sleep.
      • It's impossible to say how I was feeling at the time. I thought her life was in danger, and the thought that she was going to die crossed my mind.
      • Has it ever crossed your mind that indoor air quality could have an impact on your health?
      • The experience was friendly, informative, relaxed and effective in so far as I have not smoked since then and the thought of having one rarely crosses my mind.
      • It crosses my mind how fast we've adapted to our surroundings.
      Synonyms
      occur to one, come to one, come to mind, spring to mind, enter one's head, enter one's mind, strike one, hit one, dawn on one, come into one's consciousness, suggest itself

  • cross someone's palm with silver

    • humorous Pay someone for a favour or service, especially before having one's fortune told.

      we strongly suspect her palm had been crossed with silver in return for her silence
      Example sentencesExamples
      • There are things he could do to make his company more efficient, but he won't do them until someone crosses his palm with silver.
      • ‘I will take it,’ she said, fishing in her purse and crossing his palm with silver: ‘Here is the cost of your time.’
      • I fall for it every time; who wouldn't - the chance for follicular perfection by just crossing someone's palm with silver.
      • Allegedly, a great deal more money has since crossed the palms of those in local government, and all of the charges against the owner seem to have been forgotten.
      • I am the gipsy Zara, and if you cross my palm with silver, I will venture to advise you on your adventures.
      • Meanwhile the rest of the world will move ahead, while our country is stuck in the mud because no one can write 1 + 1 = 2 without crossing somebody's palm with silver.
      • Yet, in allowing him to cross his palm with silver - £160,000 pieces to be exact - McDonald became the architect of his own downfall.
      • Some people don't even say thank you, but they do cross my palm with silver, so I can't complain.
      • Please now cross my palm with silver, or I'll set that woman on you.
      • You may get a barman with a seething hatred for you in his steely glare, tempered only lightly if you choose to cross his palm with extra silver.

  • cross someone's path

    • Be met or encountered.

      she got to know people who wouldn't ordinarily cross her path
      their paths crossed years later at Manchester University
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It doesn't matter if you're shy or that you are a homebody, God will see to it that Mr. Right crosses your path in due time, says Rev.
      • I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
      • She told him: ‘I take the view that you are more than capable, and extremely likely, to resort to violence against anyone who crosses your path.’
      • Jessica is never afraid to say ‘Hi’ to whomever crosses her path as she makes her way through her first year of middle school.
      • Glass is interrupted by the antics of extended family and friends who keep crossing his path in need of help.
      • From now on, I do so solemnly swear that whoever crosses my path will meet a very painful end.
      • During our normal daily lives in our own countries, the variety of interesting characters we meet in Pattaya probably would not cross our path.
      • I'm still poking around, seeing how things work, how people interact with each other, and thinking critically about art, design, science, religion, and pretty much anything else that crosses my path.
      • I don't think I recall any Malaysian fiction ever crossing my path, so this is a first.
      • Delightful memories that at least we can carry with us as some kind of consolation for knowing that we won't be crossing his path again on this side of Paradise.

  • cross swords

    • Have an argument or dispute.

      the two leaders crossed swords
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Here he pauses, drops his diplomatic shield and oozes contempt for those he crossed swords with during his lengthy TV career.
      • An intense and sometimes fiery debate resulted in councillors crossing swords on a number of occasions.
      • Leading names in politics and business will cross swords at the Manchester Evening News's great debate on a mini-parliament for the north west.
      • And I'm sure our leaders have exaggerated the extent to which they enjoyed crossing swords with him.
      • She regularly joins in discussions on Britain's economic future, and recently crossed swords with Germaine Greer in a debate on the future of her adoptive city.
      • The two counties are meeting for the second time in four weeks, and this will be the tenth meeting of the sides since they first crossed swords almost 50 years ago.
      • The lawyer, who has crossed swords and won a court battle initially halting Powell's attempts to relax media ownership limits, also chided the chairman for not seeking input on other issues.
      • I don't think I'd fancy crossing swords with him in open debate.
      • The two main parties crossed swords over the Midland Regional Authority's Draft Regional Planning Guidelines at Monday's County Council meeting.
      • Though a champion of education, the moderate Republican repeatedly crossed swords with the teachers' union while mayor.
      Synonyms
      quarrel, disagree, have a dispute, wrangle, bicker, be at odds, be at loggerheads, lock horns, lock antlers

  • crossed line

    • A telephone connection that has been wrongly made with the result that another call or calls can be heard.

      the system will be totally secure from crossed lines and tapping
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It's a crossed line, the other party won't get off the phone and it takes the intervention of the operator to get through to your lover.
      • An ‘intermittent crossed line fault on the company's UK network’ is being blamed for some callers being able to listen in to other people's calls.
      • If there was a fight on the street, or an argument in the next room, or a crossed line, or someone punishing a child, he was transfixed, and he listened.
      • It was bad enough that his phone kept getting crossed lines, without the added hassle of all the low-lifes he was being forced to talk to.
      • Yesterday, over a crossed line, she heard a murder being planned.
      • For the past 48 hours I keep keep getting completely crossed lines and ending up with the person I'm calling talking to someone else and me connected to someone else too.
      • Sorry, there must be a crossed line, I can't hear what you're saying!
      • I'm just about to put the phone down, when I hear muffled voices in the background like a crossed line.

  • get one's wires (or lines) crossed

    • 1Become wrongly connected by telephone.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • Mobile phone punters in London have been having the weirdest conversations after the phone company admitted that it has been getting its wires crossed.
      1. 1.1Have a misunderstanding.
        somewhere along the line someone had got their wires crossed, that much was clear
        Example sentencesExamples
        • Unfortunately nurse got her wires crossed again, she gave the lady 12 tablets at two.
        • This was an organised trip with written permission, and someone has got their wires crossed, and the whole thing has snowballed.
        • I think it's you who've got your wires crossed.
        • I would strongly advise her to go back and read her history books once again as she has got her wires crossed from a historical point of view.
        • And it is obvious that even the Reuter correspondent has got his wires crossed on the above subject.
        • Also, let me point out that you've got your wires crossed.
        • The perception that commanding officers got their wires crossed has been reinforced by reports and books on the conflict.
        • I think your reporter and myself got our wires crossed when I was talking to him about housing issues in general.
        • Okay, so having fun with role reversal is one thing, but Geoff and I have seriously got our lines crossed these past couple days.
        • I think W K Quick may have got his wires crossed regarding certain drivers being exempt from paying vehicle excise duty.

  • have a/one's cross to bear

    • Have a difficult problem or responsibility one has to deal with.

      as a smoker, I can tell you it's a horrible habit, but that's my cross to bear
      Example sentencesExamples
      • I have my cross to bear and she has hers.
      • We all know that Dudley has his own cross to bear.
      • So you have your cross to bear.
      • Oh, well, we all have our crosses to bear.
      • We all have our cross to bear, I suppose.
      • Sometimes I think I became a lesbian so I'd have a cross to bear.
      • Svennis has his cross to bear, and he's unlikely to be entirely loved even if he wins in Germany.
      • When it comes to natural disasters, every region has its crosses to bear.
      • We all have our cross to bear in life.
      • Every team has a cross to bear, and if that's the Yankees cross, so be it.

Derivatives

  • crosser

    • noun
    • We can't absolutely, perfectly and hermetically seal 7,000 miles of land borders and keep out 100 percent of illegal crossers.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • The Arizona-based American Border Patrol, which monitors illegal alien traffic and reports border crossers to immigration officials, is one of several groups critical of the president's plan.
      • While I've been fairly critical of certain floor crossers in the past (let's just call them JL and BS), I do think a bill like this is a bad idea.
      • Plus points are Michael Owen, and an over-hyped David Beckham, who is still the best crosser in the world.
      • I have not worked with Don Hutchison, but maybe we will need a good crosser of the ball in these circumstances.

  • crossly

    • adverb ˈkrɒsli
    • ‘But what I don't like is watching you flirt with other guys,’ he said crossly, his eyes darkening.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • ‘Maybe see a psychiatrist as well!’ his wife said crossly as she walked out of the room.
      • I offered to pick Zack up, so he could look from a higher vantage point but he crossly told me no.
      • ‘Surely men have a right to be present at the birth considering they are present at the conception,’ he piped up rather crossly.
      • Though she said it crossly, I know she was annoyed with me for doubting myself.

  • crossness

    • noun ˈkrɒsnəsˈkrɔsnəs
    • If you guys hadn't stood up, burnt your bras, vocalised your crossness and proved yourself as vocal and as argumentative as your male counterparts, then probably I would be in the relaxed position I am today.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Eventually Mathew got over his bout of crossness.
      • His crossness about the fact that Head of News at the BBC is now a woman fills me with awe.
      • One of the things I hated about the election was its crossness.
      • This accompanied by noises of exertion, crossness or frustration, emotional or physical as appropriate.

Origin

Late Old English (in the sense 'monument in the form of a cross'): from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux.

  • The word cross was initially used in English to refer to a monument in the form of a cross. The source is Old Norse kross, which in turn goes back to crux, a Latin word that gave us crucial, crucible (Late Middle English) originally a night light or the sort that might be hung in front of a crucifix (Middle English), and excruciating.

    People cross their fingers to ward off bad luck. What they are doing is making a miniature ‘sign of the cross’, whether they know it or not. To cross someone's palm with silver is to pay them for a favour or service. It probably comes from the idea of tracing the shape of a cross on a fortune-teller's palm with a silver coin before you are told what the future has in store.

    In 49 bc Julius Caesar, having defeated the Gauls, brought his army south to fight a civil war against Pompey and the Roman Senate. When he crossed the Rubicon, a small river marking the boundary between Italy and the Roman province of Gaul, he was committed to war, having broken the law forbidding him to take his troops out of his province. Cross meaning ‘annoyed’ dates back to the 17th century. It derives from the nautical idea of a wind blowing across the bow of your ship rather than from behind, which produced the senses ‘contrary, opposing’, and ‘adverse, opposed’, and then ‘annoyed, bad-tempered’. Crosspatch (early 18th century) is based on the obsolete word patch meaning ‘fool, clown’, perhaps from Italian pazzo ‘madman’.

Rhymes

across, boss, Bros, cos, crosse, doss, dross, emboss, en brosse, floss, fosse, gloss, Goss, joss, Kos, lacrosse, loss, moss, MS-DOS, Ross
noun.1
phr.
 
 

Definition of cross in US English:

cross

nounkrɔskrôs

  • 1A mark, object, or figure formed by two short intersecting lines or pieces (+ or ×)

    cut a cross in the bark with a sharp knife
    Example sentencesExamples
    • With the pointed end of a potato peeler or a small, sharp knife, cut out the core of the tomatoes and lightly mark a cross on their undersides.
    • The small cross indicates the position of the Earth when at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in early January.
    • The center of the cross indicates the position of the breakpoints with moderate precision.
    • The cross represents the masculine side of his face, the nought represents the feminine side.
    • It was a map of Hillcrest, marked with numerous crosses.
    • Cut a small cross in the top of each pie, insert a sprig of thyme and lightly brush with milk.
    • Watch any low budget pre-election television show, lay back and listen while the terminally dumb mumble their excuses for not being able to put a cross on a piece of paper and pop it into a battered tin box.
    • Initially voters were required to mark as many crosses as there were vacancies and the candidates with greatest support, usually from the same party, were elected.
    • She cut an improvised cross from the head of a cork and dampened the ash by adding water.
    • Torvald checks his letter box and finds some letters and two Business cards from Dr. Rank with black crosses on them.
    • The ancient Egyptians had the cross as a religious symbol of their Gods.
    • It is understood that a street map of Brussels with a number of places marked with crosses - including a street near the embassy - was found on him.
    • Knead it well then shape it into a ball, cut a cross into the centre, place in a bowl and cover.
    • They will not meekly give up their power simply because of a few million crosses on pieces of paper.
    • When giving a guest the map of Mantua, why not indicate with a cross where the restaurant you've booked for him is located?
    • Opponents have halted plans for voters in York's next local elections to place their crosses by post.
    • Trapping was carried out in the reedbed with 147 m of mist nets arranged in two lines forming a cross.
    • If George W Bush had enjoyed the right to vote in this country two weeks ago he would have thought twice about putting his cross against any candidate representing the Conservative Party.
    • The yellow outline and magenta cross mark the best guess of the RADAR team at the location of the Huygens DISR images.
    • How can they ever expect conditions to change when a short trip to a polling station to mark a cross on a voting paper might make all the difference, but is too much for them?
    • All I did was put pencil crosses on pieces of paper and put them in a ballot box.
    1. 1.1 A cross (×) used to show that something is incorrect or unsatisfactory.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Put a cross against the wrong answer.
      • And there's ticks and crosses to indicate everyone's preferences.
      • Use a green tick if the best option was chosen, a yellow tick for a partially correct answer, and a red cross for a totally wrong answer.
    2. 1.2 A cross-shaped decoration awarded for personal valor or indicating rank in some orders of knighthood.
      the Military Cross
      Example sentencesExamples
      • During his career, he was awarded the Iron Cross by the German army for bravery.
      • Since that time there have been a total of 1,354 crosses awarded.
      • Myles proved to be a valiant soldier and was awarded two Papal emblems, a medal and a cross at the end of the war.
      • Dempsey served on the Western Front and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
      • He failed to rise in rank beyond corporal, but was awarded the Iron Cross for military bravery.
      • Seven among them were awarded St. George's crosses, the highest and most coveted military order in czarist Russia.
    3. 1.3the Cross The constellation Southern Cross.
      Also called crux

  • 2An upright post with a transverse bar, as used in antiquity for crucifixion.

    Example sentencesExamples
    • May that which is unholy within me be nailed to the sacrificial cross of crucifixion and may that which pleases you be raised in the holy and blessed hope of the ressurection.
    • His duties even called on him to be the first person to try out the cross for the Crucifixion scene.
    • He has also carried a cross that was 4m long and 2m wide for thousands of kilometres around Australia.
    • This runs counter to the Synoptic story which has the soldiers compelling Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross to Golgotha.
    • On that occasion an oak cross, on which a neighbour of Raonaid had inscribed her favourite poem, was marked with a knife.
    • It was a deep black and similar to a Christian cross, except that the top half of the cross had been intersected thrice more, each line smaller than the last.
    • Before the cross became a Christian symbol, it already symbolized torture in the Roman Empire.
    • He is shown as a man who was reluctant to carry the cross, forced by the Romans to do so.
    • They replaced a decaying wooden Celtic cross that was in a dangerous and hazardous state.
    Synonyms
    crucifix, rood
    1. 2.1the Cross The cross on which Jesus was crucified.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • That's why, with time, they started to represent the Christ with a beard and later, they represented him on the cross.
      • This was an expression of all the sins of the world put into one cup and poured out on Christ while He was on the Cross.
      • Just when we figure out the cross and empty tomb, something happens to remind us that Jesus' death and resurrection are a mystery.
      • He used his own pain, following the example of Christ on the cross, to share with compassion the pain of others.
      • The Cross of Christ is the centre of God's entire plan of redemption.
      • The lintel shows Jesus carrying the cross on the way to Calvary.
      • As opposed to the resurrection, the cross symbolises crucifixion.
      • The cross of Christ, theologically speaking, was not an end in itself.
      • These include a fragmented image of the crucifixion with parts of Christ's body in pieces around the cross.
      • The cross of Jesus Christ reveals that the very heart of God is mercy and forgiveness.
      • Everything you have ever done wrong was placed on Jesus as He hung upon the Cross.
      • At least twenty people have offered to sell me a piece of the true cross.
      • He could have saved himself, but he did not for it was through his death on the Cross that God was going to save the world.
      • An eternal transaction was taking place as Jesus was dying on the Cross.
      • I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to cleanse me from sin.
      • The foundation of the Church is always the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
      • As Jesus hung upon the Cross, He hung there as the representative Man - the last of the Adamic race.
      • It is because the dogwood was used for the Cross, it is said, that it has not grown straight, or to a large size ever since.
      • Christ encountered her at the very entrance of the church, all bloody and nailed to the Cross.
      • Your old sinful life was put to death on the Cross with Jesus, and buried with him in the grave.
    2. 2.2 A cross, or a representation of it, as an emblem of Christianity.
      she wore a cross around her neck
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He said this cross was built in the 1950s to mark a holy year.
      • This day provides an opportunity to acknowledge grief and sorrow, and to teach why Christians use a cross as a symbol.
      • Lulu wears a tiny gold cross around her neck.
      • Noting my covetousness, a native woman lifted her cross off her neck and placed it around mine.
      • One way she does this is by stripping down, multiplying, and opening up the central symbol of Christianity, the cross.
      • Dozens of people turned up on Otley Chevin at the weekend to help pull the Easter Cross into place.
      • Meanwhile, through an open doorway, the reader can see hundreds of crosses lining the general's backyard in neat rows.
      • A bible hung from his belt, and he wore a cross around his neck.
      • Above them a cluster of crosses mark graves and beyond them a few people cross onto a ship.
      • It is proposed to build, plaster and cap a perimeter wall and erect a Cross on completion of the work.
      • A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks.
      • He buried them out back, behind the small cabin, forming two wooden crosses out of pieces of wood, spliced together with strips of rawhide.
      • The life-size crosses and figures of saints were one of the great forms of benefaction in the eleventh century and are described in churches across England.
      • A special prayer around the Cross for young people takes place for the Lenten Season.
      • Though our foreheads are marked with a black, ashen cross, Matthew warns us to practice our piety in secret.
      • Like many of the troops I met during the war, she wore a cross around her neck.
      • In England, hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday; they are marked on top with a cross, either cut in the dough or composed of strips of pastry.
      • The cross as a symbol of Christianity is everywhere.
      • To the early Christians and Byzantines, it was called the gammadion cross, and it figured prominently in their artwork.
      • She was no longer biting her fingernail, but fidgeting with the gold cross on a chain around her neck.
    3. 2.3
      short for sign of the cross (see sign)
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He muttered what sounded like a prayer and made a cross on himself.
      • Then he stands straight and with his left hand holding out his staff towards us, makes a cross in the air, speaking the ritual he has been taught for occasions such as this
      • His hand touched his forehead, then tapped the front of his black suit three more times to form a cross.
      • She bowed her head and made a cross over her chest in reverence of the departed woman.
    4. 2.4 A staff surmounted by a cross carried in religious processions.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He was extremely poor, illiterate and kept himself to himself, but liked attending church processions and carrying the cross or the pictures of Saints.
      • Leading the procession and holding the cross aloft were Mrs. Anne Enright from the western side and Patrick Egan from Tarmons side.
      • Only one of the items shown, the painted processional cross mentioned earlier, was loaned by another museum.
      • Then the Vicar-General and some of the Franciscan fathers came ashore carrying two crosses in procession and singing the Te Deum.
      • With his left hand he supports over his left shoulder a staff topped by a cross, and holds an open scroll with an inscription written in black in Greek capitals.
      • The two illustrated here are probably St Barbara with the tower and martyr's palm, and an unidentified bishop-saint carrying the Greek Orthodox cross.
      • On the following day the cross will be carried by the youth of the area to the Cathedral.
      • They then carried a cross through the streets to the Methodist Church for a united act of worship led by the Rev Mary Teed.
    5. 2.5 Something unavoidable that has to be endured.
      she's just a cross we have to bear
      Example sentencesExamples
      • All the suffering they endured they accepted as their way of carrying the cross.
      • Sincere faith and fortitude in the will of God gave him the strength to carry his cross.
      • She said he had carried his cross in silence and with dignity and they had helped each other along the way.
      • We therefore call upon all troublesome nurses to quit being callow in our hospitals, carry the cross and emulate Nightingale, the mother of nursing.
      • She always had a bright outlook on life even up to the end and carried bravely any crosses sent her way, including the death of her daughter, Ann in 1998.
      • Like all of us he too carried crosses - he found it very hard to accept the long illness of his father Murty whom he found difficult to even visit at times.
      • Many crosses he was to carry before his passing to his eternal reward at the age of 90 years.
      • But no sane person can tell me that a mother deserves to be made carry the cross that Mrs. McGinley now carries.
      • If that was what it took, I had to accept it and carry the cross.
      • He also died suddenly at a young age in 1987, and this was a big cross for Aggie to carry at the time.
      • She trusted him, of course, but it was her secret, her burden, her cross to bear.
      • You had many a cross to carry but you carried on and helped me to carry my cross so many times.
      • It was during their short time in Shrule prior to moving to Cong that they suffered a great cross with the sudden death of their only child, Ann Marie, at the age of two years.
      • Who are those who are willing to carry their cross and die daily?
      • David's mother carried thoughts of Michael around like a cross.
      • He may well be left to carry the cross he so recklessly laid on the shoulders of others.
      • This feeling coupled with the feeling of guilt that they are in some way or fashion responsible for their charge's condition is indeed a difficult cross to bear.
      • No human should have to endure the cross of suffering.
      • I pray they can carry their particular cross as we all carry ours.
      • The lone researcher bears a large emotional burden, and there is simply no denying that this is a cross many PhD students will have to carry.
      Synonyms
      burden, trouble, worry, trial, tribulation, affliction, curse, bane, hardship

  • 3An animal or plant resulting from crossbreeding; a hybrid.

    a Devon and Holstein cross
    Example sentencesExamples
    • That clone was created from a cross between two strains from North and South Germany that were distinct from the clones we analyzed here.
    • Grandifloras are a cross between hybrid teas and floribundas.
    • The first step is to make a cross between two parent plants.
    • We assume that the parents that initiate the cross are pure inbred lines.
    • A genetic map constructed using a cross between the two M. grisea strains used in this study revealed a high degree of synteny between the two genomes.
    • Most hybrid striped bass that consumers purchase are a cross between female white bass and male striped bass.
    • Hybrids such as the mule, a cross between a donkey and a horse, are sterile.
    • Draft animals, especially the ubiquitous dzo, a cross between a yak and a cow, play a central part in the farming economy.
    • These bitsy buds are a cross between broccoli and gai lan.
    • Hybrids are more difficult to spot because they are a cross between the native and Spanish varieties, and the colours vary in shades
    • He said animals had to be 16 hands 3ins minimum and a cross between a heavy working breed and a thoroughbred.
    • The farm's herd is a cross between the indigenous Wagyu and another quality export from Scotland, the Aberdeen Angus.
    Synonyms
    hybrid, hybridization, cross-breed, mixed breed, half-breed, half blood, mixture, amalgam, blend, combination, composite, conglomerate
    1. 3.1a cross between A mixture or compromise of two things.
      the system is a cross between a monorail and a conventional railroad
      Example sentencesExamples
      • The jail was a cross between a political headquarters and an industrial plant.
      • With their five-wheel frame and their medium-height buckle cuff, they are a cross between a racing skate and recreational one.
      • Clearly, the closer a family car resembles a cross between a combine harvester and a rocket launcher, the happier today's families are.
      • The movie becomes a cross between a serious life drama and a quirky romantic comedy.
      • Orchestral life, at its best, is a cross between summer camp and labour camp.
      • Covered only from waist down by white sheets, they evoked a cross between Greek statues and hospital patients.
      • His face was growing old quickly, his hair a cross between gray and brown.
      • That place was like a cross between hell and jail.
      • It's been described as a cross between orienteering and sailing, of course with the extra dimension of being able to go up and down, something you don't wish to do in a sailing boat.
      • He led her out of the bedroom and into something that looked like a cross between a library, a laboratory, and a study.
      • His hair was scraggly and slightly curly, its color a cross between brown and black.
      • It's a cross between rap and line dancing if you can categorise it at all.
      • It is a cross between a corporation and a partnership.
      • He describes his life as a cross between being a GP, vicar and social worker - ‘which is fine, but not very challenging’.
      • It's a brilliant cross between stealth, puzzle and platform genres that you really have to play to believe.
      • In many respects, this form of analysis represents a cross between a psychological profile and stereotyping.
      • This is the ideal present for someone with a slightly sadistic nature as a cross between a plant and a pet.
      • He was an imposing figure, a cross between Humpty Dumpty and a brigadier, who had rowed hard in his youth.
      • Weblogs, or blogs for short, are a cross between a diary, a web site, and an online community.
      Synonyms
      mixture, blend, mingling, combination, compound, fusion, composition, concoction, brew, alloy, merger, union, amalgamation, amalgam, coalition, hybrid

  • 4Soccer
    A pass of the ball across the field toward the center close to one's opponents' goal.

    Example sentencesExamples
    • The former Rochdale man delivered a pin-point low cross for top-scorer Foster to turn home from close range.
    • His limp cross was kicked towards the Leeds goal by Ian Harte and only a smart save by Nigel Martyn kept things equal.
    • He creates so many goals for others with his precision crosses and his sweeping through balls.
    • Only a few minutes had gone when the Welshman flung in an inviting right-foot cross to the back post.
    • He looks in an off-side position but the linesman disagrees, and so he can ping another cross in.
    1. 4.1Boxing A blow delivered across and over the opponent's lead.
      a right cross
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He was very mobile for a man his size and he had a pretty fair right cross.
      • He had an excellent one-two combination and a surprisingly stiff right cross, which enabled him to score a number of early knockouts.
      • The messages from Moore's brain to the rest of his body were immediately scrambled by the perfectly timed right cross, and Moore fell down to the canvas in a heap.
      • Jason kneed him in the stomach before following the blow with a right cross to his mouth.
      • Faster than I could recover, he whipped his massive fist into a right cross that took me in the jaw.
verbkrɔskrôs
[with object]

  • 1Go or extend across or to the other side of (a path, road, stretch of water, or area)

    he has crossed the Atlantic twice
    two paths crossed the field
    figurative a shadow of apprehension crossed her face
    no object we crossed over the bridge
    Example sentencesExamples
    • Residents were also concerned that it would mean children having to cross New Road Side - even though the council has said a pedestrian crossing would be installed.
    • The glint of a smile briefly crosses his face when asked if he's ready for the playoffs.
    • She crossed to the left side of the road before going on to Coltman Street.
    • I crossed to the other side of the road, and went along that one for a while.
    • He stretched enormously, crossed to the washstand, and poured hot water into the basin, then frowned.
    • Rivers and streams along the routes of the Roman roads were crossed by bridges.
    • Then turning again toward Christina, a frown crossed the woman's stern features.
    • But to get there you have to cross a treacherous stretch of water called Jack Sound.
    • A single road crosses the area.
    • When they had crossed to the far side of the square, they came to a straw colored building with a thatched roof.
    • It was also hazardous for pedestrians to cross Cemetery Road, and she suggested traffic lights and a pelican crossing were needed.
    • We crossed to the other side of the balcony, where there was a second door.
    • As all three crossed to the other side of the road, Daniel saw a speeding car, then heard the sound of a car hit Michael.
    • She quickly crossed to the other side of the street and walked towards her house.
    • A weak, forced smile crossed the bruised and grimy face, " Hey.
    • His car crossed to the wrong side of the road and collided with a tree.
    • In their separate rooms, the exact same smirk crossed both of their faces.
    • Sarah ended her vigil at Sofia's side and crossed the room to her fiancé.
    • The vehicle sped away, going through red traffic lights at 50 mph in a 30 mph area before crossing the Pheasant roundabout on the wrong side.
    • Determined, she waited for a clear road before crossing the busiest stretch in the city to the other side.
    Synonyms
    travel across, go across, cut across, make one's way across, traverse, range over, tramp over, wander over
    span, bridge, arch, ford
    1. 1.1 Go across or climb over (an obstacle or boundary)
      he attempted to cross the border into Jordan
      no object we crossed over a fence
      Example sentencesExamples
      • But persuading our English neighbours to cross the Border is a bigger problem than anyone thought.
      • Asking spectators to cross national boundaries, and especially seas, is putting far to heavy a financial burden on them.
      • The alleged bomber claims to have illegally crossed the Mexican border into the US.
      • They then crossed the border and got into a vehicle, which drove them to France.
      • The trolley is fitted with a sensor which is triggered if it crosses the supermarket's boundaries, causing a shield to drop down over the wheels and stop the runaway cart.
      • When I was at school and less than well behaved, a yell in the ear and slap of the ruler on my wrist told me I'd crossed the boundaries of acceptability.
      • At the time the Russians said he had been shot by a border guard while crossing the frontier with Finland.
      • She managed to cross all obstacles on the medium course, and liked it so much that she decided to try the big one too.
      • Tens of thousands of mobile phone customers are believed to be caught in the trap of incurring international charges every time they cross the Border for work and leisure.
      • Police are reminding all motorists they should not attempt to cross the barriers if they are in any doubt about the safety of the conditions.
      • They said a policeman kicked a civilian when he attempted to cross the barriers set up at the corner of Queen and Henry Streets.
      • Hundreds die during attempts to cross the borders illegally.
      • How fluently can creative artists cross global boundaries?
      • First of all, any architectural or engineering work has a technical or practical purpose, for example to span a river, to cross an obstacle.
      • I didn't get a sense of having crossed some life-changing boundary.
      • The drivers' biggest challenges will be the Western Sahara with no metalled roads and crossing a minefield in Mauritania.
      • The quest to bring John Lillie to justice took around 10 years and crossed international boundaries.
      • Police officers were stationed along the route every hundred yards preventing anyone from crossing the boundary.
      • I hope this will be an opportunity to cross international boundaries and express practical help and love for those who are bereft and homeless.
      • The row erupted among a group of about 10 men - at least two of whom had crossed the nearby Border from the south.
      Synonyms
      travel across, go across, cut across, make one's way across, traverse, range over, tramp over, wander over
    2. 1.2cross overno object (especially of an artist or an artistic style or work) begin to appeal to a different audience, especially a wider one.
      a talented animator who crossed over to live action
      Example sentencesExamples
      • The publishers believe this is a book that crosses over from business into pop culture.
      • I think our music crosses over because we're tapping into a romantic yearning that so many people have.
      • When these niche products are successful with a broad audience, of course, the marginal crosses over into the mainstream.
      • It is a really great toy and it crosses over lines - people who are religious like it because it is a historical Jesus and is not a parody in any way.
      • People find it very difficult to deal with subject matter that crosses over from one pigeonhole into another.
      • That could also mean that high art is agnostic or that it crosses over to all faiths.
      • Her music may be deep-rooted in the teen market but her image crosses over into the adult market where she is often shown on adult magazine covers posing seductively while still maintaining an ‘innocence’.
      • Art is symbolic, and crosses over into many different genres.
      • This time the four-time Grammy award-winner crosses over into the genre of jazz with his first album of standard tunes.
      • His album is out there at the moment getting people used to the raw style, which is always lost as an artist crosses over into the mainstream market.
      • When he crosses over to painting from his preferred medium of printmaking, his sensibility is divergent and different.
      • It may be the film that finally crosses over to the mainstream.
      • They may have been featured on the South Bank Show, but the duo have been trying to cross over to a mass audience for a while now without much success.
      • He writes true-to-life books, which cross over well from a teenage to adult audience.
      • They were obviously trying to play down the gay content and cross over to straight audiences.
      • ‘Christian rock’ is its own musical genre in America, but it rarely crosses over into the mainstream.

  • 2no object Pass in an opposite or different direction; intersect.

    the two lines cross at 90°
    Example sentencesExamples
    • There were two tubes crossing in different directions.
    • Noticing this, he squeezed in as close as possible to the vehicle he was passing and we crossed with no more than a couple of feet to spare.
    • Our paths never crossed again after playgroup anyway.
    Synonyms
    intersect, meet, join, connect, criss-cross, interweave, intertwine
    1. 2.1with object Cause (two things) to intersect.
      cross the cables in opposing directions
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He waved his hands back and forth for a few minutes before jumping onto the bed and sitting on his with his legs crossed underneath him.
      • He fidgets in his chair like a man unaccustomed to sitting still, crossing and uncrossing his legs, slipping his socked feet underneath him.
      • Gem crossed her two, graceful arms over her raised chest.
      • I crossed my room and flicked on my stereo, turning it up as loud as it could then I sat on my bed with my legs crossed underneath me.
      • He sat down, crossed and uncrossed his legs, and tried to pick up the flagging vibe.
      • ‘You're forgetting one very important thing,’ implied Tyler, crossing his lean, tanned arms.
      • He crossed his well toned arms as looked her up and down, and made no move to hide his snicker.
      • Her long floral dress bunched up as she crossed her long tan legs.
      • In addition, he showed how to decode body language: crossing one's legs when sitting was a sign of uneasiness, while standing with one's legs wide apart was the hallmark of a braggart.
      • Both of her arms crossed each other across her chest, the daggers she held lay lazily over her shoulders on each side.
      • Setting the tray down in the middle of the rug, David sat, crossing his legs.
      • I crossed my legs Indian-style and took a drag of my cigarette before asking him what it was about.
      • He casually settled into a worn orange couch, and crossed his long, lithe legs.
      • He leans back, placing his hands on the back of his head and crossing one of his legs over the other.
      • He sat back, crossed his own supple young arms and watched, awe struck by the creative process of life.
      • ‘The same thing I told the last three guys that came in here,’ she said, crossing her arms tighter across her chest.
      • She crossed her long thin legs and rested her chin on her hands.
      • She pulled a nearby seat in front of her and stuck her legs on it, crossed one upon the other, and sipped the drink.
      • Sitting down, and crossing her legs she closed her eyes and concentrated.
      • Finally Emily sat back down on the couch next to Reese, crossing her bony, slender legs as she spoke.
    2. 2.2with object Place (something) crosswise.
      Michele sat back and crossed her arms
      Example sentencesExamples
      • She crossed her ankles, and put her arms behind her back.
      • He leans back against me, squeezing his arms under mine and crossing them tightly against his own stomach.
      • She put her arms down, crossing them and pouting.
      • You should write for a magazine, she told me, crossing and recrossing her legs, flipping her hair to scare up some play in this half-deserted place.
      • Mac just threw up his arms and then crossed them across his chest again before slamming his back against the locker indignantly.
      • I lowered my arms and crossed them again, waiting for Josh to reply or come running back.
      • The other chuckled, and Petersen sat down and crossed his hands behind his head.
      • I took a deep breath, walked to a table and sat down, crossing my hands to make it look like I was waiting for someone.
      • Amanda sat up and crossed her ankles.
      • ‘Would you mind,’ she shouted at him, unfolding her arms and crossing them over her chest.
    3. 2.3 (of a letter) be sent before receipt of another from the person being written to.
      our letters crossed
      Example sentencesExamples
      • A letter from Alstom also of 18 June probably crossed with that letter.
      • Maybe the letters crossed over in the post.
      • It would appear that our letters crossed and I therefore repeated this request on 15th May.

  • 3Draw a line or lines across; mark with a cross.

    cross the t's
    Example sentencesExamples
    • She told me to heighten the letter i and to cross my t's so that the horizontal bar is equally long on both sides of the vertical line.
    1. 3.1British Mark or annotate (a check), typically by drawing a pair of parallel lines across it, to indicate that it must be paid into a named bank account.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • This means that it is at the risk of the bank to accept a crossed cheque into someone else's account when it is written in favour of somebody else, which means that banks don't generally accept them.
      • Extreme caution is needed where cheques are crossed and marked account payee only.
      • Anyone wishing to contribute as requested to should have cheques crossed and made payable to the Athletic Club.
      • Subcontractors are also advised to pay workers by auto pay or crossed cheques.
      • The holder is entitled to cross a cheque even if an original crossing, usually printed on the cheque, has been opened by the drawer.
    2. 3.2cross someone/something off Delete a name or item on a list as being no longer required or involved.
      Liz crossed off the days on the calendar
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Quebec election bureaucrats have started crossing names off nomination papers with great and possibly unfair abandon.
      • The New Orleans Saints are the obvious pick but all of us are rooting for them so let's cross them off the list.
      • And if they dismiss you as some kind of lunatic, cross them off your holiday list and go spend the money you would have spent on their gift on yourself.
      • He couldn't hear or see anyone, so he took the liberty of crossing a name off the paper.
      • He looked down at the words he had written in the notebook and crossed a name off a list that was just starting to grow.
      • The auction will make the perfect opportunity to gather some Christmas presents and cross some names off that list.
      • He told me, and I nodded, understanding, while mentally crossing Oliver off the list.
      • I was asked to go and cross my name off the list, because Gordon Copeland knew I was here.
      • Oh, and we can cross Erica off the list of suspects now.
      • Since then each day seems to have rolled into another before I've had chance to catch my breath and cross things off the To Do List.
      • He also crossed his name off of the list of the dead.
      • Incidentally I wasn't serious when I suggested we and our friends might cross North Dakota off our list of prospective holiday destinations this summer.
      • Don't cross me off the social list just yet, though.
      • Personally, I'd be glad to cross that worry off the list.
      • If you're still sending a card to someone you haven't seen since Guide camp, it's probably time to cross them off your list.
      • A guy had a whole table of laboratory glassware and I was able to cross an item off my list of lifetime goals: I now own a bell jar.
      • Depending on your allergy, you can automatically cross some restaurants off your list.
      • The students roar with approval, and, even though the principal expels her and crosses her name off the ballot, her fellow students reject the two ‘major’ candidates and vote for her anyway.
      • Jack Shanahan watched as the guard crossed his name off the list at the doorstep of Belle Henderson's three story home.
      • If you really want to help, volunteer to make dinner or do laundry so Mom can cross a few things off her list.
    3. 3.3cross something out Delete an incorrect or inapplicable word or phrase by drawing a line through it.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • All the rest was crossed out because it was meaningless, self-serving guff - like this column.
      • So if the previous occupant had had his mail redirected and received this letter, what's to stop him from crossing out my name?
      • People will cross out words and write above them.
      • If a section does not apply to you, cross it through with a line and the words ‘not applicable’.
      • I wrote down something that I was just about to do (go pick up my ticket to Flipside), and then crossed it out.
      • Edith relaxed, sinking back into her chair, crossing out something she had written on her notepad and exhaling.
      • Jacob pondered on this for a moment, and then he responded: it's okay, if you don't know a word, just cross it out.
      • A nameless person after my own heart had crossed out the extraneous apostrophe and written a comment berating the person for not knowing how to use the English language.
      • On one line, all but three words were crossed out, replaced with a phrase.
      • You can read it anywhere, you can highlight words or cross them out and scribble your own comments alongside.
      • But I never crossed his number out of my phone book.
      • There's a piece of contributory evidence here: Manningham started to write ‘Mid’, then crossed it out and wrote ‘Twelve Night’.
      • I pause every so often to cross something out, or try to pick the best word to use.
      • Shann had written her name, then crossed it out, then written it again in tiny letters above it, then crossed that out.
      • He said he had made a mistake and crossed that figure out and had written the correct amount of $590.17.
      • Sheets that showed a translator writing lines, crossing them out, going back to what he crossed out… What a library would give for them today!
      • But then, he called Labaton back to clarify, saying that the problematic phrase was in an earlier draft, he had noticed it and crossed it out.
      • What they told me to do is take a pen, cross out the address, write ‘Does not reside’, and then put it back in the box.
      • He gave a nod and picked up his pen, starting halfway down the page without crossing out what he'd written before.
      • The last words were crossed out and new wording was substituted in manuscript.
      Synonyms
      delete, strike out, strike through, ink out, score out, scratch out, block out, blank out, edit out, blue-pencil, cancel, eliminate, obliterate

  • 4cross oneself(of a person) make the sign of the cross in front of one's chest as a sign of Christian reverence or to invoke divine protection.

    Example sentencesExamples
    • I crossed myself, I greeted the priest, I kissed his hand, and my father understood.
    • She crushed the list against her chest and crossed herself.
    • As the preacher crossed himself, the church bell began to toll.
    • Then the bishop came forth, crossed himself briefly, and bowed his head.
    • Ted said thanks for the evening and Mary crossed herself and invoked some sort of biblical curse.
    • The priest, who was hovering nearby, crossed himself.
    • The old Irish priest crossed himself and slunk back away from the computer.
    • Strangers and friends cross themselves as the funeral begins.
    • Quickly, he crossed himself, and knocked on the wooden bed frame as he sat back down on it.
    • At 11 am, there are already about a hundred people inside, and still they are coming, crossing themselves as they enter, kissing a picture of Christ next to which is a bunch of bluebells.
    • He kneels down, crosses himself, without being aware of it, and clasps his hands, prayer-like.
    • It allowed online visitors to kneel to pray, cross themselves and perform an arm-raising ‘hallelujah!’
    • But how many viewers noticed the winning jockey Graham Lee crossing himself?
    • She would pray when she returned home from his studio, and she would cross herself in front of La Madre de Dios in the evenings as she made her way back to him.
    • Their names and histories were changed, often several times, and woe to the children who failed to remember which name was current, or to cross themselves, or to say recently learned Christian prayers.
    • He used his dampened fingers to cross himself (forehead, chest, each shoulder) and then motioned for Loryn to do the same.
    • I walked towards the hooded figure who had been crossing himself and stood in front of him, palms facing out to indicate that I offered no threat.
    • She addresses her prayers to Catholic saints, crosses herself, and has a collection of Catholic iconography.
    • Many people integrate religious practice into their daily lives, crossing themselves while passing a church or entering to light a candle, pray, or meditate.
    • The queen closed her eyes with a prayer of thanksgiving, quickly crossing herself as she rose to her feet.

  • 5Soccer
    Pass (the ball) across the field toward the center when attacking.

    Example sentencesExamples
    • Luis Garcia escapes down the right wing and crosses the ball into the Chelsea penalty area.
    • Frank Foley went on a run from centre back, crossed the ball into the square for Thomas Doyle to equalise.
    • Germany attack down the left, the ball is crossed and Lukas Podolski tries a volley from inside the D of the Italy penalty area.
    • From the ensuing free-kick wide on the right, the ball is crossed in to the Italy penalty area.
    • His ability to cross the ball and pass it over very long distances absolutely astonishes people.

  • 6Cause (an animal of one species, breed, or variety) to interbreed with one of another species, breed, or variety.

    many animals of the breed were crossed with the closely related Guernsey
    figurative he behaved like an old regular officer crossed with a mathematician
    Example sentencesExamples
    • The story of his life, at least as he tells it, reads as if Kafka had been crossed with Dostoevsky with a dollop of magical realism thrown in for good measure.
    • Males from Oregon-R and 2b were crossed with virgin females from each deficiency strain.
    • If we get to the point where we can make the offspring viable and fertile, then what I think we should do is attempt to cross lions with successively smaller felines until we create a male housecat with a mane.
    • The latest craze among dog fanciers: Poodles crossed with other breeds.
    • The South American bee was crossed with the African bee, the idea being to create a more ‘resistant’ bee, a hardy all-weather insect.
    • The horses are usually Irish draught crossed with thoroughbred, a combination with a reliable temperament, and arrive at Hutton aged four.
    • The novel is like science fiction crossed with an SAS adventure.
    • She is now working with her third puppy Maple, a curly coated Retriever crossed with a Labrador.
    • First, the two breeds described previously were crossed, followed by 10 generations of random mating.
    • These felines are hybrids first bred from crossing a wild small leopard cat of Asia with a domestic cat.
    • The Long-hair was crossed with the spaniel and an old German gun dog, the Stoberhund.
    • What do you get if you cross a carrier pigeon with a woodpecker?
    • He's a Clydesdale cross, crossed with a standard breed.
    • It's actually a hybrid between two species, so it's rather like crossing a donkey with a horse: what you get is strong but it's completely sterile.
    • Similar results have been obtained by crossing Pachon and Subterraneo cavefish.
    • Merino ewes, grown for their wool, are crossed with a meat breed, such as a border Leicester ram, to produce so-called first-cross meat sheep.
    • During the 15th and 16 centuries, it was crossed with the sheep dog to provide strength, and later various hounds to obtain more speed.
    • This was observed when two wallaby species, Macropus eugenii and Wallabia bicolor, were crossed.
    • Arabian stallions were crossed with a few English mares at the end of the 17th and start of the 18th centuries to produce the thoroughbred.
    • The barb was taken to Spain by the Moors in the eighth century, and was crossed with local mares to produce the Andalusian.
    1. 6.1 Cross-fertilize (a plant)
      a hybrid tea was crossed with a polyantha rose
      Example sentencesExamples
      • In the past, perennial species have been crossed with sunflower and most of the improvements in sunflower have been the result of crossing with Jerusalem artichoke.
      • Often the transgenic crop will be crossed with existing parents to produce an improved variety.
      • These native American species have since been crossed with V vinifera to form new varieties, and among themselves to produce the rootstocks used in modern viticulture.
      • A total of 23 flowers were crossed, and 33 flowers were submitted to mixed pollinations.
      • The frequency of embryo formation was similar to that obtained by crossing wheat with maize pollen.
      • They have been crossed with other Asian species to produce the plants now cultivated.
      • Sixty-one triploid F 1 plants were crossed with diploid pollen donors for testcrosses.
      • Zao 18 was crossed with the SMV-susceptible cultivar Lee 68 to study the inheritance of resistance.
      • These are the roses that were crossed with the tea rose of China to form the hybrid tea.
      • Many of today's hybrids have been crossed with Lilium regale.
      • This male was crossed with the female cultivar Hayward to produce the F 1 population.
      • A rice japonica variety, Nipponbare, was crossed with an indica variety, Kasalath.
      Synonyms
      hybridize, cross-breed, interbreed, cross-fertilize, cross-pollinate, intercross, mix, intermix, blend

  • 7Oppose or stand in the way of (someone)

    no one dared cross him
    Example sentencesExamples
    • Those who crossed him 12 months ago are not easily forgotten.
    • You might want to do it if your aim was not only to discredit the story but to discredit the source and discourage others from crossing you.
    • Brigid herself was the only one who dared to cross this woman.
    • You will experience a sense of liberation for the rest of your working life and be able to spit in the eye of just about anyone who crosses you - a great and abiding pleasure.
    • If someone crosses me I do like revenge, so watch out.
    • So then, you've got PMS, and you're on the warpath, and you know that anyone who dares to cross you in any way, gets it!
    • Too late they discover that Hale is an underworld crime lord, and that crossing him results in an inevitable slow and painful death.
    • Lately, he's taken to assailing university officials who dare to cross him on this explosive issue.
    • Most importantly remind them of who's in control now and that they don't want to cross me.
    • The smile that said I dare you to cross me and see what happens.
    • Now that he had free range over his powers to do whatever he wanted with them, the men dared not cross him.
    • In his last years he was able to pick off those who had crossed him, reward those who had stood by him, and enjoy a quiet life at last.
    • He wants her to explain why everyone who crosses her gets injured.
    • No one dared to cross her - if Madeline didn't like you, it got pretty ugly.
    • After suing anyone who dared to cross him, Douglas was finally imprisoned himself for libeling Winston Churchill.
    • Next time everyone will be against you, because you will have led them to expect that there will be no penalties for crossing you.
    • And he can make so much trouble if he doesn't get the elections he wants that it is not worthwhile crossing him.
    • She likes her own way and is unforgiving if slighted; one journalist who crossed her subsequently found many other powerful doors were slammed in his face.
    • He has a daughter, I pity her husband if he crosses her.
    • There would be little quarter given to anyone who crossed him.
    Synonyms
    oppose, resist, defy, thwart, frustrate, foil, obstruct, impede, hinder, hamper, block, check, deny, contradict, argue with, quarrel with
adjectivekrɔskrôs

  • Annoyed.

    he seemed to be very cross about something
    Example sentencesExamples
    • I remember being terribly cross with him, but he got away with a great deal because of his personal charm.
    • Folks will be even crosser when they can't take a shower because your shortsighted bulldozing of environmental protections has dirtied most of the water and dried up the rest.
    • First, there is a new writ - and this time not from a cross landlord but from a large, impatient bank.
    • She said it with such conviction that her words, her cross tone, her stern expression - they are all burned in my memory.
    • It's not like he gets extra attention for doing it - after all, I'm not then able to play with him while I go into repair mode yet again, and I end up feeling very cross and resentful.
    • The driver couldn't get them open again so he was quite cross.
    • It does make her cross now when young women moan about their husbands being away for three months.
    • I go to the door in my pants and slippers, very cross indeed.
    • He added he was very cross and would stay mayor until the next council meeting on June 2 even if his brother returned wanting to take over office.
    • ‘She chatters away and gets very cross when she doesn't get her own way,’ laughs Katherine.
    • I am also cross that there may have been an assumption that private day nurseries are all just a licence to make money.
    • No one will get cross with you because you're too tired - they don't want you to faint halfway through a concert or anything.
    • Yes, you might be able to tell, I am feeling quite cross with the world at large.
    • However, he can become cross or frustrated on occasion and he will sometimes resort to hitting himself or talking to himself.
    • When he said, brusquely, that he was exceedingly cross, he was given nice things to smell and eat, with kindest expressions of condolence.
    • I went to them to see if they were interested but I just got a Dear John-type letter back which made me quite cross.
    • Their father sounded really cross this time.
    • We promised to meet for coffee, and then suddenly, my station arrived and the train vomited me up onto the platform in a crowd of cross commuters.
    • I have had the honour of knowing Roger for many years, and I can assure you that you have made a large number of people very cross through your careless choice of insulting words.
    • Now I think I was more cross with my mum than I was with my dad for not being there - I was definitely Daddy's little girl.
    Synonyms
    angry, annoyed, irate, irritated, in a bad mood, peeved, vexed, upset, irked, piqued, out of humour, put out, displeased, galled, resentful

Phrases

  • at cross purposes

    • Misunderstanding or having different aims from one another.

      we had been talking at cross purposes
      Example sentencesExamples
      • I suspect the opposing sides may be at cross purposes at times, and that a solid working definition could clarify the debate.
      • In the past such people were disorganized and often at cross purposes, in both political parties and no political party.
      • He was genuinely concerned that the Spurs affair might re-open the wounds that were patched up last season when he and the player were at cross purposes for a time.
      • I think we're talking at cross purposes here pal, that's the one I bought a few weeks ago, hence the fifteen quid well spent.
      • Well, i don't think this's going anywhere, but it's a shame, as I still get the impression we're talking at cross purposes.
      • All of these ‘villains’ act independently at times, and often at cross purposes.
      • At the same time, it needs to ensure that other policies - such as transport policy - are pulling in the same direction rather than working at cross purposes.
      • And those two goals are at cross purposes with each other.
      • Well, it looks like the sheriff and the DA are at cross purposes with one another.
      • The script is a series of vignettes, short dialogues in which people often talk at cross purposes to each other, sometimes to comic effect, sometimes not.
      Synonyms
      conflicting, in conflict, contrasting, incompatible, irreconcilable, antithetical, contradictory, clashing, contrary, different, differing, divergent, dissimilar, disagreeing, in disagreement, at odds, at cross purposes, at loggerheads, opposed, opposing, opposite, in opposition, poles apart, polar, at outs

  • cross one's fingers

    • 1Put one finger across another as a sign of hoping for good luck.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • We kept our fingers crossed that the rain would continue, and when it did we planted broad beans, broccoli, and radishes which are now thriving.
      • However all concerned are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that the work will be completed.
      • She clambered into the boat and, crossing her fingers that this crazy experiment would work, began to row.
      • Jamilla kept her fingers crossed and it wasn't long before her innermost prayers were answered: she got an opening to play overseas.
      • We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that the blood tests will prove negative.
      • So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that it's a little bit light enough in the morning to burn those clouds off.
      • Or they may decide to keep their fingers crossed until their renewal date and hope that no major disaster strikes.
      • If nothing unlucky happens to you today, cross your fingers and touch wood because it's only six months until the next Friday the 13th.
      • This year, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope all will be well.
      • I'm crossing my fingers for the best, and holding my breath until March 26.
      Synonyms
      hope for the best
      1. 1.1Hope that someone or something will be successful.
        Example sentencesExamples
        • We were aware the announcement was due and all the signs were that it was going to be successful and we were keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best.
        • They'd kept their fingers crossed, hoping they'd do well in the competition.
        • A few days before the show, the organizers had been keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that the youngsters would turn out in large enough numbers.
        • Dismayed by the unexpected cancellation of the show this year, citizens are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping it will take off next year without any hitches.
        • Janine is crossing her fingers for stardom after starting at the prestigious Arts Educational School.
        • Too many people cross their fingers and pray for success.
        • I crossed my fingers hoping it would work.
        • Howarth is refusing to be overawed as he keeps his fingers crossed for a chance to show his class on the international stage.
        • However, hardcore fans are still keeping their fingers crossed and hoping the controversy sorts itself out and that they get to see the star first day first show.
        • Provided the journey goes smoothly, the five should reach the coast in August - and Andy is crossing his fingers that the expedition runs to schedule.

  • cross the floor

    • Join the opposing side in Parliament.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • He was once a Labour councillor in the city, but crossed the floor to join the Tories.
      • Thus, it was not a new development, when, after the 2001 elections, a handful of members of Parliament crossed the floor from opposition parties to the ruling MMD party.
      • The cardinal crime in the Labor calendar has traditionally been ‘to rat’; that is, to cross the floor and join the opposition.
      • He was succeeded by Shaun Woodward, a director of party public relations, who later crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join the Labour Party.
      • Since then four more Labour councillors have crossed the floor of council chambers around the country to join Respect.
      • In 1900 he entered the House of Commons as a Conservative but crossed the floor within four years to join the Liberals on the issue of free trade.
      • If just eight Government members were willing to cross the floor, the will of this parliament, the will of our democracy would prevail.
      • Having crossed the floor to become a Liberal in 1904 (as a free trader opposed to tariff reform), Churchill became president of the Board of Trade four years later.
      • Indeed, within a few weeks Churchill crossed the floor of the House from the Conservative benches to join the Liberals.
      • Basically, the Tory MP approached the Liberals because he and his wife, Nina (also an MP) wanted to cross the floor and join the government.

  • cross my heart (and hope to die)

    • Used to emphasize the truthfulness and sincerity of what one is saying, and sometimes reinforced by making a sign of the cross over one's chest.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • I promise that I won't laugh - cross my heart, hope to die.
      • Honey I swear… I will not take any assignments… I know our last vacations were cut short… But this will be different… I promise cross my heart…
      • Our cows, cross my heart, have the choice of their own vets while local horses have no need to wait for elective surgery.
      • Next time, cross my heart, I promise to share the recipe for my Super-Duper Mint Fudge Walnut Divinity!
      • ‘I understand entirely, cross my heart hope to die,’ he said seriously.
      • Just tell me the truth and I cross my heart, I won't tell anyone else in the world.
      • I had to cross my heart and swear to die and even then promise to do to her no harm before I could convince him.
      • Well this time I mean it, honest, cross my heart hope to die.
      • ‘I can tell you with the utmost truth, cross my heart and hope to die and all the rest of it, one Sunday night we heard Tokyo Rose and her propaganda broadcast,’ says Don, now aged 75.
      • I promise myself, cross my heart hope to die, that I will never again get into a car when Grant is behind the wheel.

  • cross one's mind

    • (of a thought) occur to one, especially transiently.

      it never crossed my mind to leave the tent and live in a house
      Example sentencesExamples
      • He is unflinching mentally: ‘I don't think about what's happened to me in the past and it never crosses my mind when I'm playing I might get hurt.‘
      • It's impossible to say how I was feeling at the time. I thought her life was in danger, and the thought that she was going to die crossed my mind.
      • Has it ever crossed your mind that indoor air quality could have an impact on your health?
      • Getting her own flat only fleetingly crosses her mind.
      • Let's face it, if these things were easy to do, we would do them when the idea first crossed our mind.
      • That was the last thought that crossed his mind before his mind shut down and he drifted into blissful sleep.
      • The experience was friendly, informative, relaxed and effective in so far as I have not smoked since then and the thought of having one rarely crosses my mind.
      • But despite all of this, and despite the 16-page pullout supplement, Canada never even crosses my mind as a holiday destination.
      • When I ordered the poster the potential for this problem crossed my mind but I dismissed it out of hand.
      • It crosses my mind how fast we've adapted to our surroundings.
      Synonyms
      occur to one, come to one, come to mind, spring to mind, enter one's head, enter one's mind, strike one, hit one, dawn on one, come into one's consciousness, suggest itself

  • cross someone's palm with silver

    • humorous Pay someone for a favor or service, especially before having one's fortune told.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • Yet, in allowing him to cross his palm with silver - £160,000 pieces to be exact - McDonald became the architect of his own downfall.
      • Please now cross my palm with silver, or I'll set that woman on you.
      • There are things he could do to make his company more efficient, but he won't do them until someone crosses his palm with silver.
      • I am the gipsy Zara, and if you cross my palm with silver, I will venture to advise you on your adventures.
      • Some people don't even say thank you, but they do cross my palm with silver, so I can't complain.
      • I fall for it every time; who wouldn't - the chance for follicular perfection by just crossing someone's palm with silver.
      • ‘I will take it,’ she said, fishing in her purse and crossing his palm with silver: ‘Here is the cost of your time.’
      • Allegedly, a great deal more money has since crossed the palms of those in local government, and all of the charges against the owner seem to have been forgotten.
      • You may get a barman with a seething hatred for you in his steely glare, tempered only lightly if you choose to cross his palm with extra silver.
      • Meanwhile the rest of the world will move ahead, while our country is stuck in the mud because no one can write 1 + 1 = 2 without crossing somebody's palm with silver.

  • cross someone's path

    • Meet or encounter someone.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • I don't think I recall any Malaysian fiction ever crossing my path, so this is a first.
      • Glass is interrupted by the antics of extended family and friends who keep crossing his path in need of help.
      • From now on, I do so solemnly swear that whoever crosses my path will meet a very painful end.
      • During our normal daily lives in our own countries, the variety of interesting characters we meet in Pattaya probably would not cross our path.
      • It doesn't matter if you're shy or that you are a homebody, God will see to it that Mr. Right crosses your path in due time, says Rev.
      • She told him: ‘I take the view that you are more than capable, and extremely likely, to resort to violence against anyone who crosses your path.’
      • I'm still poking around, seeing how things work, how people interact with each other, and thinking critically about art, design, science, religion, and pretty much anything else that crosses my path.
      • Delightful memories that at least we can carry with us as some kind of consolation for knowing that we won't be crossing his path again on this side of Paradise.
      • I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
      • Jessica is never afraid to say ‘Hi’ to whomever crosses her path as she makes her way through her first year of middle school.

  • cross swords

    • Have an argument or dispute.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • She regularly joins in discussions on Britain's economic future, and recently crossed swords with Germaine Greer in a debate on the future of her adoptive city.
      • The two counties are meeting for the second time in four weeks, and this will be the tenth meeting of the sides since they first crossed swords almost 50 years ago.
      • I don't think I'd fancy crossing swords with him in open debate.
      • An intense and sometimes fiery debate resulted in councillors crossing swords on a number of occasions.
      • The two main parties crossed swords over the Midland Regional Authority's Draft Regional Planning Guidelines at Monday's County Council meeting.
      • Though a champion of education, the moderate Republican repeatedly crossed swords with the teachers' union while mayor.
      • Leading names in politics and business will cross swords at the Manchester Evening News's great debate on a mini-parliament for the north west.
      • The lawyer, who has crossed swords and won a court battle initially halting Powell's attempts to relax media ownership limits, also chided the chairman for not seeking input on other issues.
      • Here he pauses, drops his diplomatic shield and oozes contempt for those he crossed swords with during his lengthy TV career.
      • And I'm sure our leaders have exaggerated the extent to which they enjoyed crossing swords with him.
      Synonyms
      quarrel, disagree, have a dispute, wrangle, bicker, be at odds, be at loggerheads, lock horns, lock antlers

  • get one's wires (or lines) crossed

    • 1Become wrongly connected by telephone.

      Example sentencesExamples
      • Mobile phone punters in London have been having the weirdest conversations after the phone company admitted that it has been getting its wires crossed.
      1. 1.1Have a misunderstanding.
        Example sentencesExamples
        • Okay, so having fun with role reversal is one thing, but Geoff and I have seriously got our lines crossed these past couple days.
        • I would strongly advise her to go back and read her history books once again as she has got her wires crossed from a historical point of view.
        • Also, let me point out that you've got your wires crossed.
        • I think your reporter and myself got our wires crossed when I was talking to him about housing issues in general.
        • I think W K Quick may have got his wires crossed regarding certain drivers being exempt from paying vehicle excise duty.
        • Unfortunately nurse got her wires crossed again, she gave the lady 12 tablets at two.
        • And it is obvious that even the Reuter correspondent has got his wires crossed on the above subject.
        • This was an organised trip with written permission, and someone has got their wires crossed, and the whole thing has snowballed.
        • The perception that commanding officers got their wires crossed has been reinforced by reports and books on the conflict.
        • I think it's you who've got your wires crossed.

  • have a/one's cross to bear

    • Have a difficult problem or responsibility one has to deal with.

      as a smoker, I can tell you it's a horrible habit, but that's my cross to bear
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Svennis has his cross to bear, and he's unlikely to be entirely loved even if he wins in Germany.
      • We all have our cross to bear in life.
      • We all know that Dudley has his own cross to bear.
      • I have my cross to bear and she has hers.
      • Sometimes I think I became a lesbian so I'd have a cross to bear.
      • We all have our cross to bear, I suppose.
      • When it comes to natural disasters, every region has its crosses to bear.
      • So you have your cross to bear.
      • Every team has a cross to bear, and if that's the Yankees cross, so be it.
      • Oh, well, we all have our crosses to bear.

Origin

Late Old English (in the sense ‘monument in the form of a cross’): from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux.

noun.1
phr.
 
 
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更新时间：2024/9/21 11:12:32