prep. [ Pref. a- + cross: cf. F. en croix. See Cross, n. ] From side to side; athwart; crosswise, or in a direction opposed to the length; quite over; as, a bridge laid across a river. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To come across, to come upon or meet incidentally. Freeman. --
To go across the country, to go by a direct course across a region without following the roads. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. From side to side; crosswise; as, with arms folded across. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Obliquely; athwart; amiss; awry. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The squint-eyed Pharisees look across at all the actions of Christ. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. broad in scope or content limited, exclusive
Syn. -- all-embracing, all-inclusive, blanket(prenominal), broad, complete, global, panoptic, wide [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. The mark of the cross, as cut, painted, written, or stamped on certain objects, -- sometimes as the sign of 12 o'clock on a dial. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fescue of the dial is upon the christcross of noon. Old Play. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The beginning and the ending. [ Obs. ] Quarles. [ 1913 Webster ]

The alphabet; -- formerly so called, either from the cross usually set before it, or from a superstitious custom, sometimes practiced, of writing it in the form of a cross, by way of a charm. [ 1913 Webster ]

From infant conning of the Christcross-row. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of Christcross. ] 1. A mark or cross, as the signature of a person who is unable to write. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A child's game played on paper or on a slate, consisting of lines arranged in the form of a cross. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To mark or cover with cross lines; as, a paper was crisscrossed with red marks. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In opposite directions; in a way to cross something else; crossing one another at various angles and in various ways. [ 1913 Webster ]

Logs and tree luing crisscross in utter confusion. W. E. Boardman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. With opposition or hindrance; at cross purposes; contrarily; as, things go crisscross. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Christcross-row. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. crois, croys, cros; the former fr. OF. crois, croiz, F. croix, fr. L. crux; the second is perh. directly fr. Prov. cros, crotz. fr. the same L. crux; cf. Icel. kross. Cf. Crucial, Crusade, Cruise, Crux. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A gibbet, consisting of two pieces of timber placed transversely upon one another, in various forms, as a T, or +, with the horizontal piece below the upper end of the upright, or as an X. It was anciently used in the execution of criminals. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nailed to the cross
By his own nation. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The sign or mark of the cross, made with the finger, or in ink, etc., or actually represented in some material; the symbol of Christ's death; the ensign and chosen symbol of Christianity, of a Christian people, and of Christendom. [ 1913 Webster ]

The custom of making the sign of the cross with the hand or finger, as a means of conferring blessing or preserving from evil, is very old. Schaff-Herzog Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Before the cross has waned the crescent's ray. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tis where the cross is preached. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Affiction regarded as a test of patience or virtue; trial; disappointment; opposition; misfortune. [ 1913 Webster ]

Heaven prepares a good man with crosses. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A piece of money stamped with the figure of a cross, also, that side of such a piece on which the cross is stamped; hence, money in general. [ 1913 Webster ]

I should bear no cross if I did bear you; for I think you have no money in your purse. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An appendage or ornament or anything in the form of a cross; a badge or ornamental device of the general shape of a cross; hence, such an ornament, even when varying considerably from that form; thus, the Cross of the British Order of St. George and St. Michael consists of a central medallion with seven arms radiating from it. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Arch.) A monument in the form of a cross, or surmounted by a cross, set up in a public place; as, a market cross; a boundary cross; Charing Cross in London. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dun-Edin's Cross, a pillared stone,
Rose on a turret octagon. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Her.) A common heraldic bearing, of which there are many varieties. See the Illustration, above. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. The crosslike mark or symbol used instead of a signature by those unable to write. [ 1913 Webster ]

Five Kentish abbesses . . . .subscribed their names and crosses. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Church lands. [ Ireland ] [ Obs. ] Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A line drawn across or through another line. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. Hence: A mixing of breeds or stock, especially in cattle breeding; or the product of such intermixture; a hybrid of any kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Toning down the ancient Viking into a sort of a cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy Diddler. Lord Dufferin. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Surveying) An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Mech.) A pipe-fitting with four branches the axes of which usually form's right angle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cross and pile, a game with money, at which it is put to chance whether a coin shall fall with that side up which bears the cross, or the other, which is called pile, or reverse; the game called heads or tails. --
Cross bottony or
Cross bottoné. See under Bottony. --
Cross estoilé (Her.). a cross, each of whose arms is pointed like the ray of a star; that is, a star having four long points only. --
Cross of Calvary. See Calvary, 3. --
Southern cross. (Astron.) See under Southern. --
To do a thing on the cross, to act dishonestly; -- opposed to acting on the square. [ Slang ] --
To take up the cross, to bear troubles and afflictions with patience from love to Christ. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Not parallel; lying or falling athwart; transverse; oblique; intersecting. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cross refraction of the second prism. Sir I. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not accordant with what is wished or expected; interrupting; adverse; contrary; thwarting; perverse. “A cross fortune.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cross and unlucky issue of my design. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

The article of the resurrection seems to lie marvelously cross to the common experience of mankind. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

We are both love's captives, but with fates so cross,
One must be happy by the other's loss. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Characterized by, or in a state of, peevishness, fretfulness, or ill humor; as, a cross man or woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had received a cross answer from his mistress. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged; as, cross interrogatories; cross marriages, as when a brother and sister marry persons standing in the same relation to each other. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cross action (Law), an action brought by a party who is sued against the person who has sued him, upon the same subject matter, as upon the same contract. Burrill. --
Cross aisle (Arch.), a transept; the lateral divisions of a cruciform church. --
Cross axle. (a) (Mach.) A shaft, windlass, or roller, worked by levers at opposite ends, as in the copperplate printing press. (b) A driving axle, with cranks set at an angle of 90° with each other. --
Cross bedding (Geol.), oblique lamination of horizontal beds. --
Cross bill. See in the Vocabulary. --
Cross bitt. Same as Crosspiece. --
Cross bond, a form of bricklaying, in which the joints of one stretcher course come midway between those of the stretcher courses above and below, a course of headers and stretchers intervening. See Bond, n., 8. --
Cross breed. See in the Vocabulary. --
Cross breeding. See under Breeding. --
Cross buttock, a particular throw in wrestling; hence, an unexpected defeat or repulse. Smollet. --
Cross country, across the country; not by the road. “The cross-country ride.” Cowper. --
Cross fertilization, the fertilization of the female products of one physiological individual by the male products of another, -- as the fertilization of the ovules of one plant by pollen from another. See Fertilization. --
Cross file, a double convex file, used in dressing out the arms or crosses of fine wheels. --
Cross fire (Mil.), lines of fire, from two or more points or places, crossing each other. --
Cross forked. (Her.) See under Forked. --
Cross frog. See under Frog. --
Cross furrow, a furrow or trench cut across other furrows to receive the water running in them and conduct it to the side of the field. --
Cross handle, a handle attached transversely to the axis of a tool, as in the augur. Knight. --
Cross lode (Mining), a vein intersecting the true or principal lode. --
Cross purpose. See Cross-purpose, in the Vocabulary. --
Cross reference, a reference made from one part of a book or register to another part, where the same or an allied subject is treated of. --
Cross sea (Naut.), a chopping sea, in which the waves run in contrary directions. --
Cross stroke, a line or stroke across something, as across the letter t. --
Cross wind, a side wind; an unfavorable wind. --
Cross wires, fine wires made to traverse the field of view in a telescope, and moved by a screw with a graduated head, used for delicate astronomical observations; spider lines. Fixed cross wires are also used in microscopes, etc.

Syn. -- Fretful; peevish. See Fretful. [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. Athwart; across. [ Archaic or Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A fox was taking a walk one night cross a village. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

To go cross lots, to go across the fields; to take a short cut. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Crossed p. pr. & vb. n. Crossing. ] 1. To put across or athwart; to cause to intersect; as, to cross the arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To lay or draw something, as a line, across; as, to cross the letter t. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To pass from one side to the other of; to pass or move over; to traverse; as, to cross a stream. [ 1913 Webster ]

A hunted hare . . . crosses and confounds her former track. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To pass, as objects going in an opposite direction at the same time. “Your kind letter crossed mine.” J. D. Forbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To run counter to; to thwart; to obstruct; to hinder; to clash or interfere with. [ 1913 Webster ]

In each thing give him way; cross him in nothing. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

An oyster may be crossed in love. Sheridan. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To interfere and cut off; to debar. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To cross me from the golden time I look for. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To make the sign of the cross upon; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun; as, he crossed himself. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To cancel by marking crosses on or over, or drawing a line across; to erase; -- usually with out, off, or over; as, to cross out a name. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To cause to interbreed; -- said of different stocks or races; to mix the breed of. [ 1913 Webster ]

To cross a check (Eng. Banking), to draw two parallel transverse lines across the face of a check, with or without adding between them the words “and company”, with or without the words “not negotiable”, or to draw the transverse lines simply, with or without the words “not negotiable” (the check in any of these cases being crossed generally). Also, to write or print across the face of a check the name of a banker, with or without the words “not negotiable” (the check being then crossed specially). A check crossed generally is payable only when presented through a bank; one crossed specially, only when presented through the bank mentioned. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] --
To cross one's path, to oppose one's plans. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To lie or be athwart. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move or pass from one side to the other, or from place to place; to make a transit; as, to cross from New York to Liverpool. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be inconsistent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Men's actions do not always cross with reason. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To interbreed, as races; to mix distinct breeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

If two individuals of distinct races cross, a third is invariably produced different from either. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. With arms crossed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. A term used when a narrow ribbon of veneer is inserted into the surface of any piece of furniture, wainscoting, etc., so that the grain of it is contrary to the general surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A transverse bar or piece, as a bar across a door, or as the iron bar or stock which passes through the shank of an anchor to insure its turning fluke down. Russell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crossbar shot, a projectile which folds into a sphere for loading, but on leaving the gun expands to a cross with a quarter ball at the end of each arm; -- used in naval actions for cutting the enemy's rigging. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Secured by, or furnished with, crossbars. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Made or patterned in lines crossing each other; as, crossbarred muslin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Same as Crossbill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Arch.) A girder. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) A beam laid across the bitts, to which the cable is fastened when riding at anchor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (R.C.Ch.) A subdeacon who bears a cross before an archbishop or primate on solemn occasions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a member of the House of Commons of Great Britain who does not vote regularly with either the Government or the Opposition. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Law) A bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit, against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in that suit. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In criminal practice, cross bills of indictment for assault, in which the prosecutor in once case is the defendant in another, may be tried together. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A bird of the genus Loxia, allied to the finches. Their mandibles are strongly curved and cross each other; the crossbeak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) Any preternatural labor, in which the body of the child lies across the pelvis of the mother, so that the shoulder, arm, or trunk is the part first presented at the mouth of the uterus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A deception; a cheat. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deceive; to trick; to gull. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. A representation of two of the leg bones or arm bones of a skeleton, laid crosswise, often surmounted with a skull, and serving as a symbol of death. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crossbones, scythes, hourglasses, and other lugubrious emblems of mortality. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Archery) A weapon, used in discharging arrows or bolts, formed by placing a bow crosswise on a stock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A crossbowman.[ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who shoots with a crossbow. See Arbalest. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Stock Breeding) Produced by mixing distinct breeds; mongrel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A breed or an animal produced from parents of different breeds; a new variety, as of plants, combining the qualities of two parent varieties or stocks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything partaking of the natures of two different things; a hybrid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bun or cake marked with a cross of icing, and intended to be eaten on Good Friday; also, called hot cross bun, even when not hot. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. (Wrestling) A throw in which the wrestler turns his left side to his opponent, places his left leg across both legs of his opponent, and pulls him forward over his hip; hence, an unexpected defeat or repulse. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adj. 1. from one side of a country to the other; as, a cross-country railway. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. moving across open country rather than following tracks or roads; as, a cross-country race. Opposite of road. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a race over a course including countryside, rather than over roads or prepared paths.
Syn. -- cross country. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Her.) A cross having the three upper ends crossed, so as to from three small crosses. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. dealing with or comparing two or more cultures; as, a cross-cultural survey. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a stretch of turbulent water in the sea.
Syn. -- rip, riptide, tide rip. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a tendency or sentiment within a group which conflicts with that of the majority; -- often used in the plural. [ PJC ]

v. t. To cut across or through; to intersect. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A short cut across; a path shorter than by the high road. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) A level driven across the course of a vein, or across the main workings, as from one gangway to another. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crosscut saw. (a) A saw, the teeth of which are so set as to adapt it for sawing wood crosswise of the grain rather than lengthwise. (b) A saw managed by two men, one at each end, for cutting large logs crosswise. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. (Eccl.) The three days preceding the Feast of the Ascension. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. classification according to more than one attribute at the same time.
Syn. -- cross-classification. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. to dress in the clothes of the other sex. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. someone who adopts the dress or manner or sexual role of the opposite sex.
Syn. -- transvestite. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F., crosier, hooked stick. ] The implement with which the ball is thrown and caught in the game of lacrosse. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F., dim. of crosse. See Crosier. ] (Arch.) (a) A return in one of the corners of the architrave of a door or window; -- called also ancon, ear, elbow. (b) The shoulder of a joggled keystone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) The interrogating or questioning of a witness by the party against whom he has been called and examined. See Examination. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ fig. ] close or detailed questioning. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cross-examined p. pr. & vb. n. Cross-examining. ] (Law) To examine or question, as a witness who has been called and examined by the opposite party. “The opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses.” Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]