/kɹɒs/, /kɹɔs/, /kɹɑs/
Origin* As an English surname, from the noun cross, as in crossroads. Also a calque of this word in various European languages, such as French Lacroix, German Kreutz, Serbo-Croatian Križ. Compare Crouch, Crozier, Kriz.
* As an Irish surname, shortened from McCrossen.
* As a German surname, Americanized from Kross, from Middle Low German krus (“pitcher, vessel”), which is possibly an old Germanic borrowing of Ancient Greek κρωσσός (krōssós, “pitcher, pail, urn”). Also a variant of Kress.
- A geometrical figure consisting of two straight lines or bars intersecting each other such that at least one of them is bisected by the other.
“Put a cross for a wrong answer and a tick for a right one.”
- Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese cross.
- A wooden post with a perpendicular beam attached and used (especially in the Roman Empire) to execute criminals (by crucifixion).
“Criminals were commonly executed on a wooden cross.”
- alt-ofAlternative letter-case form of Cross (“the Crucifix, the cross on which Christ was crucified”).
“True Cross”
“From the dim landscape roll the clouds away— / The Christians have regained their heritage; / Before the Cross has waned the Crescent's ray, / And many a monastery decks the stage, / And lofty church,”
- A hand gesture made in imitation of the shape of the Cross; sign of the cross.
“She made the cross after swearing.”
- Any representation of the crucifix, as in religious architecture, burial markers, jewelry, etc.
“She was wearing a cross on her necklace.”
- figurativelyA difficult situation that must be endured.
“It's a cross I must bear.”
“Heaven prepares good men with crosses.”
“It's not fair to deny me / Of the cross I bear that you gave to me / You, you, you oughta know”
- The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other
“A quick cross of the road.”
- An animal or plant produced by crossbreeding or cross-fertilization.
- broadlyA hybrid of any kind.
“Toning down the ancient Viking into a sort of a cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy Diddler”
- A hook thrown over the opponent's punch.
- A pass in which the ball is kicked from a side of the pitch to a position close to the opponent’s goal.
“And Stamford Bridge erupted with joy as Florent Malouda slotted in a cross from Drogba, who had stayed just onside.”
- A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroad (common in UK and Irish place names such as Gerrards Cross).
- A monument that marks such a place. (Also common in UK or Irish place names such as Charing Cross)
- obsoleteA coin stamped with the figure of a cross, or that side of such a piece on which the cross is stamped; hence, money in general.
“I should bear no cross if I did bear you; for I think you have no money in your purse.”
- Ireland, obsoleteChurch lands.
“the church-lands lying within the same, which were called the Cross”
- A line across or through another line.
- An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.
- A pipe-fitting with four branches whose axes usually form a right angle.
- Four edge cubies of one side that are in their right places, forming the shape of a cross.
- The thirty-sixth Lenormand card.
- archaicA betrayal; dishonest practices, especially deliberately losing a sporting contest.
- slangCrossfire.
- Transverse; lying across the main direction.
“At the end of each row were cross benches which linked the rows.”
“the cross refraction of the second prism”
- archaicOpposite, opposed to.
“His actions were perversely cross to his own happiness.”
- archaicOpposing, adverse; being contrary to what one would hope or wish for.
“As a fat body is more subject to diseases, so are rich men to absurdities and fooleries, to many casualties and cross inconveniences.”
“a cross fortune”
“the cross and unlucky issue of my designs”
- British(of someone) Bad-tempered, angry, annoyed; (of words) tinged with anger.
“They exchanged a few cross words.”
“She was rather cross about missing her train on the first day of the job.”
“Please don't get cross at me. (or) Please don't get cross with me.”
- Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged.
“cross interrogatories”
“cross marriages, as when a brother and sister marry persons standing in the same relation to each other”
- Of the sea, having two wave systems traveling at oblique angles, due to the wind over shifting direction or the waves of two storm systems meeting.
“As my father remarked to me when I stole on deck to view the state of affairs, the sea was a "cross one," and very difficult to steer against.”
- archaicDishonest.
- archaicAcross.
“She walked cross the mountains.”
“A fox was taking a walk one night cross a village.”
- The cross product of the previous vector and the following vector.
“The Lorentz force is q times v cross B.”
- To place across or athwart; to cause to intersect.
“She frowned and crossed her arms.”
- To lay or draw something across, such as a line.
- To mark with an X.
“Cross the box which applies to you.”
- To write lines of text at right angles to and over the top of one another in order to save paper.ᵂ
“An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whitel”
- reflexiveTo make the sign of the cross over oneself.
“Again Beatrice crossed herself and sighed heavily as she bent over the dead insect.”
- transitiveTo make the sign of the cross over (something or someone).
“"Well, no! that's what I cannot make out either," said the mother quite innocently, "for I've had castor in the cradle, - I have crossed him, and I put a silver brooch in his shirt, and I stuck a knif”
- UK, obsolete, slang, transitiveTo mark a cross against the name of (a student) in the buttery or kitchen, so that they cannot get food there.
“2022, Andrew Lang, Oxford
The reign of Mary was scarcely more favourable to letters. No one knew what to be at in religion. In Magdalen no one could be found to say Mass, the fellows were turned out, ”
- transitiveTo go from one side of (something) to the other.
“Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“You need to cross the street at the lights.”
“Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: or ”
- intransitiveTo travel in a direction or path that will intersect with that of another.
“Ships crossing from starboard have right-of-way.”
- transitiveTo pass, as objects going in an opposite direction at the same time.
“November 4, 1866, James David Forbes, letter to E. C. Batten Esq.
Your kind letter crossed mine.”
- Of both batsmen, to pass each other when running between the wickets in order to score runs.
- To pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the other side.
“He crossed the ball into the penalty area.”
- To score a try.
“England cut loose at the end of the half, Ashton, Mark Cueto and Mike Tindall all crossing before the break.”
- transitiveTo contradict (another) or frustrate the plans of.
“"You'll rue the day you tried to cross me, Tom Hero!" bellowed the villain.”
“At length I begged him, with all the earnestness I felt, to tell me what had occurred to cross him so unusually, and to let me sympathize with him, if I could not hope to advise him.”
“But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it / Me be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard of / You better watch how you talkin' and where you walkin' / Or you and your homies might b”
- obsolete, transitiveTo interfere and cut off ; to debar.
“to cross me from the golden time I look for”
- To conduct a cross examination; to question a hostile witness.
- To cross-fertilize or crossbreed.
“They managed to cross a sheep with a goat.”
“Question: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?
Answer : El-if-I-no.”
- transitiveTo stamp or mark (a cheque) in such a way as to prevent it being cashed, thus requiring it to be deposited into a bank account.
“The English practice of crossing checks so that payment may be made to the bank account or to order is prevalent.”
- The cross on which Jesus died and, in metonymical uses, such as to refer to Christ's suffering in general.
- A settlement on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NB5062).
- A hamlet in St Dominick parish, east Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SX4067)
- A hamlet in Georgeham parish, North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS4539).
- A hamlet in Goodleigh parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS6034).
- A hamlet in Ellesmere Rural parish and Ellesmere Urban parish, north of Ellesmere, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ3936).
- A village in Compton Bishop parish, Somerset, England, previously in Sedgemoor district (OS grid ref ST4154).
- A village and townland in County Clare, Ireland, Irish spelling An Chrois.
- A village in County Mayo, Ireland, Irish spelling An Chrois.
- An unincorporated community in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States.
- A town in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, United States.
- A barangay of Glan, Sarangani, Philippines.
- A topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a stone cross on a road.
“Max Cross cut a fine figure as the Colonel, Percy Penny was a somewhat unducal Duke, while Edgar McHale gave a particularly good rendering of the Major.”
Formscrosses(plural) · crosser(comparative) · crossest(superlative) · crosses(present, singular, third-person) · crossing(participle, present) · crossed(participle, past) · crossed(past) · cross(infinitive) · cross(first-person, present, singular) · crossed(first-person, past, singular) · cross(present, second-person, singular) · crossest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · crossed(past, second-person, singular) · crossedst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · crosseth(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · crossed(past, singular, third-person) · cross(plural, present) · crossed(past, plural) · cross(present, subjunctive) · crossed(past, subjunctive)