What does cross mean?

What does cross mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does cross mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] a wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piece[v] travel across or pass over(The caravan covered almost 100 miles each day)[a] extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction; at right angles to the long axis(cross members should be all steel from the tran

cross

cross - The Free Dictionary

[n] a wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piece

[v] travel across or pass over
(The caravan covered almost 100 miles each day)

[a] extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction; at right angles to the long axis
(cross members should be all steel from the transverse hall the stairway ascends gracefully transversal vibrations transverse colon)

[n] a marking that consists of lines that cross each other

[v] meet at a point

[a] annoyed and irritable

[n] a representation of the structure on which Jesus was crucified; used as an emblem of Christianity or in heraldry

[v] hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
(What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge foil your opponent)

[n] any affliction that causes great suffering
(that is his cross to bear he bears his afflictions like a crown of thorns)

[v] fold so as to resemble a cross
(she crossed her legs)

[n] (genetics) an organism that is the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock; especially offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties or breeds or species
(a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey)

[v] to cover or extend over an area or time period
(Rivers traverse the valley floor The parking lot spans 3 acres The novel spans three centuries)

[n] (genetics) the act of mixing different species or varieties of animals or plants and thus to produce hybrids

[v] meet and pass
(the trains crossed)

[v] trace a line through or across
(cross your `t')

[v] breed animals or plants using parents of different races and varieties
(cross a horse and a donkey Mendel tried crossbreeding these species do not interbreed)

Other vocabulary

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Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.