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cross Definition

cross (krôs, kräs)

noun

  1. an upright post with a bar across it near the top, to which the ancient Romans fastened convicted persons to die
  2. a representation or figure of a cross, used as a badge, decoration, etc.; also, such a badge, decoration, etc. the Distinguished Service Cross
  3. a monument in the form of a cross, or with a cross on it, marking a crossroad, boundary, grave, etc.
  4. a staff with a cross at the top, carried before an archbishop as a sign of his authority
    1. a representation of a cross, in any of various recognized forms, as a symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus, hence of the Christian religion
    2. a crucifix
    1. the act of crossing, as from one side of a stage to the other
    2. the act of crossing oneself
  7. any trouble or affliction that one has to bear; also, anything that thwarts or frustrates
  8. any design, mark, or object made by two lines or surfaces that intersect one another
  9. such a mark () made as a signature, as by a person who cannot write
    1. a crossing, or mixing, of varieties or breeds; hybridization
    2. the result of such mixing; hybrid
  11. something that combines the qualities of two different things or types
  12. Slang a dishonest action, fixed contest or match, etc.
  13. Boxing a blow delivered over and across the opponent's lead
  14. Northern Cross
  15. Southern Cross

Etymology: < ME cros & crois; cros < OE cros & ON kross, both < OIr cros < L crux (gen. crucis), a cross < IE *kreuk-, extension of base *(s)ker-, to turn, bend > L curvus; ME crois < OFr < L crux

transitive verb

  1. to make the sign of the cross over or upon
  2. to place across or crosswise cross your fingers
  3. to lie or cut across; intersect where two streets cross one another
  4. to draw or put a line or lines across cross your t's
  5. to pass over; go from one side to the other of; go across to cross the ocean
  6. to carry or lead across
  7. to extend or reach across the bridge crosses a river
  8. to meet and pass (each other)
  9. to bring into contact, causing electrical interference the wires were crossed
  10. to go counter to; thwart; oppose
  11. to interbreed (animals or plants); breed (an individual of one type) with one of another; hybridize; cross-fertilize

intransitive verb

  1. to lie across; intersect
  2. to go or extend from one side to the other: often with over
  3. to pass each other while moving in opposite directions
  4. to interbreed; hybridize; cross-fertilize

adjective

  1. lying or passing across or through; transverse; crossing or crossed cross street, cross ventilation
  2. going counter; contrary; opposed at cross purposes
  3. irritated or irritable; ill-tempered
  4. involving reciprocal actions, etc.
  5. of mixed variety or breed; hybrid; crossbred
  6. Archaic causing harm; unfavorable

adverb

crosswise

cross Related Forms
cross′·able adjective cross′ly adverb cross′·ness noun
cross Idioms

cross off

or cross out

to cancel by or as by drawing lines across

cross oneself

to outline the form of a cross as a Christian religious act by moving the hand from the forehead to the breast and then from one shoulder to the other

cross one's fingers

to cross one finger over another of the same hand: superstitiously believed to bring good luck or mitigate the wrong of telling a half-truth

cross one's heart

to make the sign of the cross over one's heart as a token that one is telling the truth

cross someone's mind

to come suddenly or briefly to someone's mind

cross someone's palm

to pay someone money, esp. as a bribe

cross someone's path

to meet someone unexpectedly

cross up

  1. to confuse or disorder
  2. to deceive, or double-cross

the Cross

  1. the cross on which Jesus was put to death
  2. the suffering and death or Atonement of Jesus
  3. Christianity or Christendom
    1. the constellation Crux
    2. the constellation Cygnus
cross Synonyms

cross

modif.

  1. Ill-tempered

    irritable, jumpy, easily annoyed, pettish; see angry, critical 2, irritable.

  2. Crossbred

    crossed, mixed, alloyed; see hybrid. See syn. study at irritable.

cross Synonyms

cross

n.

  1. Religious symbol, especially of Christianity

    crucifix, cruciform, rood, Greek cross, papal cross, Maltese cross, St. Andrew's cross, Celtic cross, Jerusalem cross, patriarchal cross, cross of Lorraine, Latin cross, Calvary cross, swastika.

  2. A tribulation

    affliction, trial, misfortune; see affliction, difficulty 1, 2.

  3. A mixed offspring

    hybrid, mongrel, crossbreed; see hybrid, mixture 1.

cross Synonyms

cross

v.

  1. To pass over

    traverse, go across, pass across, pass over, go over, pass, ford, cut across, overpass, span, crisscross, travel over.

  2. To lie across

    intersect, lie athwart, rest across, extend across, bisect, converge, meet, join; see also divide 1.

  3. To mix breeds

    mingle, interbreed, cross-pollinate, hybridize, cross-fertilize, crossbreed, intercross, blend; see also mix 1.

cross Usage Examples

Object

  • border: Crossing the border into Malawi, we soon reach the shores of its huge lake.
  • finger: Fingers crossed that West Ham put in a bid of less than £ 1.5 million.
  • bridge: Had they been ordered to cross a bridge too far?
  • boundary: Maps have an intertextual dimension where meaning can cross boundaries of place.
  • river: At the second large bridge crossing a small river there is a short track leading off to the right at the far side.
  • road: The pupils do not have to cross the road.

Converse of object

  • engrail: Upon the roof of the aisles is the engrailed cross of the founders, St. Clairs, once hereditary Grand Masters of Scotch Masonry.

Adjective modifier

  • Celtic: The Red Dragon of Wales and the cloven Celtic cross of Cadw now fly from the Edwardian castles.
  • wooden: Showing the temporary wooden cross erected to mark the spot where Prince Louis Napoleon died in June 1879.
  • diagonal: Ian Harte swung over a super diagonal cross from the left to pick out Bowyer in the Barca box.

Modifies a noun

  • border: They have taken the cross border trade by storm.
  • section: Block height also needs to be considered in cross section drawings in relation to block width.
  • stitch: Very unusual, and a long way from horses ' heads in cross stitch.
  • contamination: They feared cross contamination with MBM in feed mills.
  • bun: We ended the day with Elke's name game and burnt hot cross buns for Kevin.
  • country: Dave Williams is in his first season of cross country seemed to be enjoying himself in 137 th.

Noun used with modifier

  • churchyard: You can also see the base of the old churchyard cross.
  • collie: I woke up at 4am with the distinct feeling that a collie cross trembling with fear was sitting on my head - another first.
  • wayside: A wayside cross is located at the junction of Potter Lane.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • over: What do you start from, above Twelve Mile Point, to cross over?
cross Quotes

Under bare Ben Bulben's head In Drumcliffe churchyard Yeats is laid, An ancestor was rector there Long years ago; a church stands near, By the road an ancient Cross. No marble, no conventional phrase, On limestone quarried near the spot By his command these words are cut: Cast a cold eye On life, on death. Horseman, pass by!

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

Si libenter crucem portas, portabit te. If you bear your cross willingly, it will bear you.

—Kempis, StThomas a'

I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.

—Bennard, George

   The Cross alone has flown the wave. But since the Cross sank, much that's warped and cracked Has followed in its name, has heaped its grave.

—Crane, (Harold) Hart

   Round and round the circle Completing the charm So the knot be unknotted The cross be uncrossed The crooked be made straight And the curse be ended.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

The cross is God's truth about us, and therefore it is the only power thatcanmakeustruthful.Whenwe know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth.

—Bonhoeffer, Dietrich

The cross of the Legion of Honour has been conferred upon me. However, few escape that distinction.

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

If youcannot have yourdear husband fora comfort and a delight, for a breadwinner and a crosspatch, for a sofa, chair or a hot-water bottle, one can use him as a Cross to be Borne.

—Smith, Stevie (Florence Margaret)

Wherefore seeing we alsoare compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

—Bible (NewTestament)

Billige Gnade ist Gnade ohne Nachfolge, Gnade ohne Kreuz, Gnade ohne den lebendigen, menschgewordenen Jesus Christus. Cheap graceisgracewithout discipleship, gracewithout the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

—Bonhoeffer, Dietrich

This day, much against my will, I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with a red cross upon the doors, and 'Lord have mercy uponus'writ thereöwhich was a sad sight to me, being the first of that kind that to my remembrance I ever saw.

—Pepys, Samuel

In cruce salus, in cruce vita. In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life.

—Kempis, StThomas a'

   He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

—Bible (NewTestament)

There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu, There's a little marble cross below the town, There'sa broken-heartedwomantendsthegrave of Mad Carew, And theYellow God forever gazes down.

—Hayes,J Milton

The orgasm has replaced the cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfilment.

—Muggeridge, Malcolm

He shouldered high his voluntary Cross, Wrestled his hardships into forms of beauty, And taught his gorgon destinies to sing.

—Campbell, (Ignatius) Roy Dunnachie

We receive this Child into the Congregation of Christ's flock, and dosign him with thesign of the Cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen.

—Book of Common Prayer

The stone remains, and the cross, to let us know Their unjust, hard demands, as symbols do.

—MacCaig, Norman Alexander

   When I survey the wondrous cross On which the prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

—Watts, Isaac

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

—Bible (NewTestament)

And he said to them all,If any manwill come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

—Bible (NewTestament)

Still falls the Rainö Dark as the world of man, black as our lossö Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails Upon the cross.

—Sitwell, Dame Edith Louisa

Yet som men say in many partys of Inglonde that kynge Arthur ys nat dede†and men say that he shall com agayne, and he shall win the Holy Crosse.Yet I woll nat say that hit shall be so, but rather Iwoldesey: here inthys there ys wrytten uppon the tumbe thys: [Here lies Arthur, the once and future king].

—Malory, SirThomas   d.1471