From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rode, from Old English rōd (“cross”); see English rood. Doublet of crouch (“cross”) and crux. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois. The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century. Cognates *Icelandic kross (“cross”) *Faroese krossur (“cross”) *Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”) *Danish kors (“cross”) *Swedish kors (“cross”) *North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”) *Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”) *West Frisian krús (“cross”) *Dutch kruis (“cross”) *German Low German Krüüz (“cross”) *German Kreuz (“cross”)
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.
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Government, Heraldry, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Monarchy, Nobility, Politics Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese cross.
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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.
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Christianity Alternative 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, and low-brow'd hermitage.1811, Walter Scott, The Vision of Don Roderick; a Poem, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for John Ballantyne and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, stanza XXVII, page 31:
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Christianity A hand gesture made in imitation of the shape of the Cross; sign of the cross.
She made the cross after swearing.
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Christianity Any representation of the crucifix, as in religious architecture, burial markers, jewelry, etc.
She was wearing a cross on her necklace.
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Figuratively A difficult situation that must be endured.
From Christ's bearing of the cross
It's a cross I must bear.
Heaven prepares good men with crosses.1641, Ben Jonson, Timber:
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It's not fair to deny me / Of the cross I bear that you gave to me / You, you, you oughta know1995, “You Oughta Know”, in Jagged Little Pill, performed by Alanis Morissette:
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The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other
A quick cross of the road.
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Biology, Natural sciences An animal or plant produced by crossbreeding or cross-fertilization.
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One element of a hybrid species or type.
The native Amboynese who reside in the city are a strange half-civilized, half-savage lazy people, who seem to be a mixture of at least three races - Portuguese, Malay, and Papuan or Ceramese, with an occasional cross of Chinese or Dutch.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 471:
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Broadly A hybrid of any kind.
Toning down the ancient Viking into a sort of a cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy Diddler1856, Lord Dufferin, Letters from High Latitudes:
Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Soccer, Sports 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.2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:
More German peril would follow as Joshua Kimmich swung in a cross for Havertz, whose well-placed header was majestically saved by Yahia Fofana.2026 June 20, Leander Schaerlaeckens, “Deniz Undav’s double earns Germany dramatic late win against Côte d’Ivoire”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
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A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroad (common in UK and Irish place names such as Gerrards Cross).
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A monument that marks such a place. (Also common in UK or Irish place names such as Charing Cross)
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Obsolete A 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.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
the church-lands lying within the same, which were called the Cross1612, John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued:
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A line across or through another line.
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Geography, Natural sciences, Surveying An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.
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A pipe-fitting with four branches whose axes usually form a right angle.
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Rubik's Cube, Games Four edge cubies of one side that are in their right places, forming the shape of a cross.
From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rode, from Old English rōd (“cross”); see English rood. Doublet of crouch (“cross”) and crux. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois. The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century. Cognates *Icelandic kross (“cross”) *Faroese krossur (“cross”) *Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”) *Danish kors (“cross”) *Swedish kors (“cross”) *North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”) *Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”) *West Frisian krús (“cross”) *Dutch kruis (“cross”) *German Low German Krüüz (“cross”) *German Kreuz (“cross”)
At the end of each row were cross benches which linked the rows.
the cross refraction of the second prism1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:
His actions were perversely cross to his own happiness.
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Archaic Opposing, 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., New York Review of Books, 2001, p.50
a cross fortunec. 1650, Jeremy Taylor, Of Contentedness:
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the cross and unlucky issue of my designs1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC:
The article of the resurrection seems to lie marvellously cross to the common experience of mankind.1694, Robert South, Christianity Mysterious, and the Wisdom of God in Making it So (sermon preached at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 1694)
We are both love's captives, but with fates so cross, / One must be happy by the other's loss.1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
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UK (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.
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Please don't get cross at me. (or) Please don't get cross with me.
1650/1651, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living He had received a cross answer from his mistress.
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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
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Nautical, Transport 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.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 15:
From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rode, from Old English rōd (“cross”); see English rood. Doublet of crouch (“cross”) and crux. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois. The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century. Cognates *Icelandic kross (“cross”) *Faroese krossur (“cross”) *Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”) *Danish kors (“cross”) *Swedish kors (“cross”) *North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”) *Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”) *West Frisian krús (“cross”) *Dutch kruis (“cross”) *German Low German Krüüz (“cross”) *German Kreuz (“cross”)
A fox was taking a walk one night cross a village.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
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The cross product of the previous vector and the following vector.
From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rode, from Old English rōd (“cross”); see English rood. Doublet of crouch (“cross”) and crux. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois. The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century. Cognates *Icelandic kross (“cross”) *Faroese krossur (“cross”) *Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”) *Danish kors (“cross”) *Swedish kors (“cross”) *North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”) *Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”) *West Frisian krús (“cross”) *Dutch kruis (“cross”) *German Low German Krüüz (“cross”) *German Kreuz (“cross”)
To place across or athwart; to cause to intersect.
She frowned and crossed her arms.
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To lay or draw something across, such as a line.
to cross the letter t
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To mark with an X.
Cross the box which applies to you.
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To write lines of text at right angles to and over the top of one another in order to save paper.( Crossed letter on WikipediaWikipedia )
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 Whiteley's’.1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN:
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To make the sign of the cross over oneself.
To cross oneself
Again Beatrice crossed herself and sighed heavily as she bent over the dead insect.1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Rappaccini's Daughter”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
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To 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 knife in the beam over the door, so I don't know how they could have managed to change him."1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 298:
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UK, Obsolete, Slang To mark a cross against the name of (a student) in the buttery or kitchen, so that they cannot get food there.
Oxford University
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, the undergraduates were whipped — boyish martyrs — and crossed at the buttery.
› To move relatively.
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To 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.
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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 anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
Ukraine, however, will complain long and hard about a contentious second-half incident when Marko Devic's shot clearly crossed the line before it was scrambled away by John Terry, only for the officials to remain unmoved.2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:
Whatever the merits or otherwise of Scottish independence or a united UK, plenty of people cross the border every year.2021 December 29, Philip Haigh, “Rail's role in unifying Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, in RAIL, number 947, page 24:
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To travel in a direction or path that will intersect with that of another.
Ships crossing from starboard have right-of-way.
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To 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.
› To move relatively. › Relative movement by a player or of players.
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Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Of both batsmen, to pass each other when running between the wickets in order to score runs.
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Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Soccer, Sports To pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the other side.
England cut loose at the end of the half, Ashton, Mark Cueto and Mike Tindall all crossing before the break.2011 February 12, Mark Orlovac, “England 59-13 Italy”, in BBC:
› To oppose.
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To 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.1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
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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 be lined in chalk1995, “Gangsta's Paradise”, in Artis Ivey, Jr., Karry Sanders, Doug Rasheed (lyrics), Gangsta's Paradise (CD), performed by Coolio and L.V., Tommy Boy, →OCLC:
to cross me from the golden time I look forc. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
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Law To conduct a cross examination; to question a hostile witness.
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Biology, Natural sciences 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.1978, Kim Applegate Peggs, Carpenter, volume 96, page 16:
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To 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.1924, Commerce Reports, volume 1, number 13, page 849: