cross

Meanings

Noun

• 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.
• 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).
• (usually with the) The cross on which Christ was crucified.
• A hand gesture made in imitation of the shape of the Cross.
• A modified representation of the crucifixion stake, worn as jewellery or displayed as a symbol of religious devotion.
• (figurative, from Christ's bearing of the cross) A difficult situation that must be endured.
• The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other
• An animal or plant produced by crossbreeding or cross-fertilization.
• A hybrid of any kind.
• A hook thrown over the opponent's punch.
• A pass in which the ball travels from by one touchline across the pitch.
• 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)
• 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.
• Church lands.
• A line drawn 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.
• crossfire.

Adjective

• Transverse; lying across the main direction.
• Opposite, opposed to.
• Opposing, adverse; being contrary to what one would hope or wish for.
• Bad-tempered, angry, annoyed.
• Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged.

Verb

• To make or form a cross.
• To move relatively.
• To oppose.
• To cross-fertilize or crossbreed.
• 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.

Related

Similar words

• hybrid
• True Cross
• contrarily, opposed, reverse, antipodal
• angry, annoyed, irritated
• cross-fertilize, crossbreed

Narrower meaning words

• crisscross

Origin

• From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros, from Old Norse kross, perhaps from Old Irish cros (compare Welsh croes, Irish crois), from Latin crux (cruci). Cognate with Icelandic kross, Faroese krossur, Danish kors, Swedish kors. Displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood.
• 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.