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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

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.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kɹɒs/Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation/kɹɔs/British, Southern, Standard/kɾɒs/Wales/kɾɔs/Scotland
  1. 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.
  2. Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese cross.

  3. 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.
  4. Alternative letter-case form of Cross (“the Crucifix, the cross on which Christ was crucified”).

    alt-of
  5. A hand gesture made in imitation of the shape of the Cross; sign of the cross.

    She made the cross after swearing.
  6. Any representation of the crucifix, as in religious architecture, burial markers, jewelry, etc.

    She was wearing a cross on her necklace.
  7. A difficult situation that must be endured.

    figuratively
    It's a cross I must bear.
  8. The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other

    A quick cross of the road.
  9. An animal or plant produced by crossbreeding or cross-fertilization.

  10. One element of a hybrid species or type.

  11. A hybrid of any kind.

    broadly
  12. A hook thrown over the opponent's punch.

  13. A pass in which the ball is kicked from a side of the pitch to a position close to the opponent’s goal.

  14. A place where roads intersect and lead off in four directions; a crossroad (common in UK and Irish place names such as Gerrards Cross).

  15. A monument that marks such a place. (Also common in UK or Irish place names such as Charing Cross)

  16. 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.

    obsolete
  17. Church lands.

    Ireland · obsolete
  18. A line across or through another line.

  19. An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.

  20. A pipe-fitting with four branches whose axes usually form a right angle.

  21. Four edge cubies of one side that are in their right places, forming the shape of a cross.

  22. The thirty-sixth Lenormand card.

  23. A betrayal; dishonest practices, especially deliberately losing a sporting contest.

    archaic
  24. Crossfire.

    slang
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Italic *kruks /*krukis Latin cruxbor. Old Irish crosbor. Old Norse krossbor. Old English cros Middle English cross English 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”)

adj/kɹɒs/Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation/kɹɔs/British, Southern, Standard/kɾɒs/Wales/kɾɔs/Scotland
  1. Transverse; lying across the main direction.

    At the end of each row were cross benches which linked the rows.
  2. Opposite, opposed to.

    archaic
    His actions were perversely cross to his own happiness.
  3. Opposing, adverse; being contrary to what one would hope or wish for.

    archaic
  4. (of someone) Bad-tempered, angry, annoyed; (of words) tinged with anger.

    UK
    They exchanged a few cross words.
    She was rather cross about missing her train on the first day of the job.
  5. Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged.

  6. 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.

  7. Dishonest.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Italic *kruks /*krukis Latin cruxbor. Old Irish crosbor. Old Norse krossbor. Old English cros Middle English cross English 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”)

prep/kɹɒs/Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation/kɹɔs/British, Southern, Standard/kɾɒs/Wales/kɾɔs/Scotland
  1. Across.

    archaic
    She walked cross the mountains.
  2. The cross product of the previous vector and the following vector.

    The Lorentz force is q times v cross B.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Italic *kruks /*krukis Latin cruxbor. Old Irish crosbor. Old Norse krossbor. Old English cros Middle English cross English 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”)

verb/kɹɒs/Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation/kɹɔs/British, Southern, Standard/kɾɒs/Wales/kɾɔs/Scotland
  1. To make or form a cross. To place across or athwart; to cause to intersect.

    She frowned and crossed her arms.
  2. To make or form a cross. To lay or draw something across, such as a line.

    to cross the letter t
  3. To make or form a cross. To mark with an X.

    Cross the box which applies to you.
  4. To make or form a cross. 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 )

  5. To make or form a cross. To make the sign of the cross over oneself.

    reflexive
  6. To make or form a cross. To make the sign of the cross over (something or someone).

    transitive
  7. To make or form a cross. To mark a cross against the name of (a student) in the buttery or kitchen, so that they cannot get food there.

    UK · obsolete · slang · transitive
  8. To move relatively. To go from one side of (something) to the other.

    transitive
    Why did the chicken cross the road?
    You need to cross the street at the lights.
  9. To move relatively. To travel in a direction or path that will intersect with that of another.

    intransitive
    Ships crossing from starboard have right-of-way.
  10. To move relatively. To pass, as objects going in an opposite direction at the same time.

    transitive
  11. To move relatively. Relative movement by a player or of players. Of both batsmen, to pass each other when running between the wickets in order to score runs.

  12. To move relatively. Relative movement by a player or of players. To pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the other side.

    He crossed the ball into the penalty area.
  13. To move relatively. Relative movement by a player or of players. To score a try.

  14. To oppose. To contradict (another) or frustrate the plans of.

    transitive
    "You'll rue the day you tried to cross me, Tom Hero!" bellowed the villain.
  15. To oppose. To interfere and cut off ; to debar.

    obsolete · transitive
  16. To oppose. To conduct a cross examination; to question a hostile witness.

  17. To cross-fertilize or crossbreed.

    They managed to cross a sheep with a goat.
  18. 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.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Italic *kruks /*krukis Latin cruxbor. Old Irish crosbor. Old Norse krossbor. Old English cros Middle English cross English 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”)

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.