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PlainSpell

cross

UK /kɹɒs/noun, adjective, preposition, verb

cross is spelled C-R-O-S-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 100 times per million words in written English, the 1,076th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cross means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cross is crosses.

How many letters and syllables are in cross?

Letters5: C-R-O-S-S
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing100 times per million words; the 1,076th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cross?

Cross appears 100 times per million words in written English, the 1,076th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cross?

  • UK /kɹɒs/
  • British /kɹɔs/
  • /kɾɒs/

Cross has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cross.ogg, En-ca-cross.ogg, En-au-cross.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with cross?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cross from its last stressed vowel (/ɒs/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of cross

  • crosses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • crosser comparative
  • crossest superlative
  • crossing participle, present
  • crossed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cross mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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. 2

    Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese cross.

  3. 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. 4

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

    True Cross

  5. 5

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

    She made the cross after swearing.

  6. 6

    Any representation of the crucifix, as in religious architecture, burial markers, jewelry, etc.

    She was wearing a cross on her necklace.

  7. 7

    A difficult situation that must be endured.

    It's a cross I must bear.

  8. 8

    The act of going across; the act of passing from one side to the other

    A quick cross of the road.

adjective

  1. 1

    Transverse; lying across the main direction.

    At the end of each row were cross benches which linked the rows.

  2. 2

    archaicOpposite, opposed to.

    His actions were perversely cross to his own happiness.

  3. 3

    archaicOpposing, adverse; being contrary to what one would hope or wish for.

    As a fat body is more subject to diseases, so are rich men to absurdities and fooleries, to many casualties and cross inconveniences.

  4. 4

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

    They exchanged a few cross words.

  5. 5

    Made in an opposite direction, or an inverse relation; mutually inverse; interchanged.

    cross interrogatories

  6. 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. 7

    archaicDishonest.

preposition

  1. 1

    archaicAcross.

    She walked cross the mountains.

  2. 2

    The cross product of the previous vector and the following vector.

    The Lorentz force is q times v cross B.

verb

  1. 1

    To place across or athwart; to cause to intersect.

    She frowned and crossed her arms.

  2. 2

    To lay or draw something across, such as a line.

    to cross the letter t

  3. 3

    To mark with an X.

    Cross the box which applies to you.

  4. 4

    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. 5

    To make the sign of the cross over oneself.

  6. 6

    To make the sign of the cross over (something or someone).

  7. 7

    UKobsoleteslangTo mark a cross against the name of (a student) in the buttery or kitchen, so that they cannot get food there.

  8. 8

    To go from one side of (something) to the other.

    Why did the chicken cross the road?

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cross in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcroix (geometrical figure), signe de croix (gesture made by Christians), direct du bras arrière (hook thrown over opponent's punch), transversal, transversale (transverse; lying across the main direction), contraire (opposite, opposed to)
GermanKreuz (geometrical figure), Kreuzzeichen (gesture made by Christians), quer (transverse; lying across the main direction), entgegengesetzt, gegenüber (opposite, opposed to), verärgert (angry, annoyed)
Portuguesecruz (geometrical figure), cruzado, atravessado, transversal (transverse; lying across the main direction), aspa, sautor (in heraldry)
Spanishcruz (geometrical figure), atravesado, transversal, de través (transverse; lying across the main direction), aspa, sotuer (in heraldry)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cross come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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