across

English

Etymology

Middle English acros, from a-croiz, from Anglo-Norman an (“on”) + Old French croiz (“in the form of a cross”), from Latin crux

Pronunciation

Preposition

across

  1. To, toward, or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
    We rowed across the river.
    Fortunately, there was a bridge across the river.
    He came across the street to meet me.
  2. On the opposite side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
    That store is across the street.
  3. (southern US, African American Vernacular)  On the opposite side, relative to something that lies between, from (a point of interest).
    • 1995, Ronald Kessler, Inside the White House, 1996 edition, ISBN 0671879197, page 243 [1]:
      On another occasion, Clinton asked Patterson to drive him to Chelsea's school, Booker Elementary, where Clinton met the department store clerk and climbed into her car.
      "I parked across the entrance and stood outside the car looking around, about 120 feet from where they were parked in a lot that was pretty well lit," Patterson recalled. " […] They stayed in the car for thirty to forty minutes."
    • 1994 June 21, Thong P Tong <tongtp@coyote.cig.mot.com(a)coyote.cig.mot.com>, "Re: Battle Tech Center", message-ID <2u7lsi$79n@delphinium.cig.mot.com>, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games, Usenet [2]:
      And make sure you're parked across the mall in the outside lot. […] Last time I was there, I parked in a parking structure and paid an arm and a leg for it.
  4. From one side to the other within (a space being traversed).
    The meteor streaked across the sky
    He walked across the room.
    Could you slide that across the table to me, please?
  5. At or near the far end of (a space).
    • 2004, Josephine Cox, Lovers and Liars, ISBN 0060525479, page 78 [3]:
      "Mam's baking and Cathleen's asleep. I've got a pile of washing bubbling in the copper, so I'd best be off." With that she was across the room and out the door.
  6. Spanning.
    This poetry speaks across the centuries.
  7. Throughout.
    • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 172: 
      Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
    All across the country, voters were communicating their representatives.
  8. So as to intersect or pass through or over at an angle.
    • 2010, Alex Bledsoe, The Girls with Games of Blood, Tor, ISBN 9780765323842, page 147 [4]:
      He parked across the end of the driveway, blocking her in.
    • Lay the top stick across the bottom one.
    • She had straps fastened across the conduit every six feet.

Related terms

Derived terms

terms derived from across (preposition)

Translations

from the far side
on the opposite side
from one side to another
bridging a gap
perpendicularly

Adverb

across (not comparable)

  1. From one side to the other.
    She helped the blind man across.
    The river is half a mile across.
  2. On the other side.
    If we sail off at noon, when will we be across?
  3. In a particular direction.
    He leaned across for a book.
  4. (crosswords) Horizontally.
    I got stuck on 4 across.

Translations

from one side to the other
on the other side
in a particular direction
crosswords: horizontally

Noun

across (plural acrosses)

  1. (crosswords) A clue whose solution runs horizontally in the grid.
    I solved all of the acrosses, but then got stuck on 3 down.

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Last modified on 24 May 2013, at 08:24