<B>crossbusing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) the busing of children from two different districts to each other's schools. <BR> <I>Ex. the hardening of racial attitudes caused by crossbusing to achieve racial balance (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosschannel">
<B>cross-channel, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> passing or situated across a channel, as the English Channel. <BR> <I>Ex. a cross-channel steamer.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosscheck">
<B>cross-check, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to check a second time; recheck. <BR> <I>Ex. The biographer must ... check and cross-check every document (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to check more than twice. <BR> <I>Ex. rechecked later for accuracy ... and cross-checked in over three times as many cases (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>(Anthropology.) to compare (a person's behavior) at different times. <DD><B> b. </B>to compare (two people's behavior) under the same conditions. <DD><I>noun </I> a second or further check. </DL>
<A NAME="crosschestcarry">
<B>cross-chest carry,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a method of carrying someone in the water to rescue him from drowning by clamping an arm across his chest while swimming a sidestroke. </DL>
<A NAME="crosscirculation">
<B>cross circulation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a technique similar to blood transfusion in which the arteries and veins of two individuals are linked so that the heart and lungs of the donor are used to circulate and oxygenate the patient's blood during a heart operation. </DL>
<A NAME="crossconnect">
<B>cross-connect, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to interchange the connections of (electric wires). </DL>
<A NAME="crosscountry">
<B>cross-country, </B>adjective, adverb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj., adv. </I> <B>1. </B>across fields or open country instead of by road. <BR> <I>Ex. a cross-country race.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>across an entire country, not merely a part. <BR> <I>Ex. a cross-country flight from New York to Seattle (adj.). The mission ... had brought him cross-country to Los Angeles (Time) (adv.).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a sports event or events held across fields or open country, as cross-country skiing and long-distance running. </DL>
<A NAME="crosscousins">
<B>cross cousins,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology, Sociology.) cousins one of whom has a father who is the brother of the other's mother. </DL>
<A NAME="crosscultural">
<B>cross-cultural, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> crossing the boundaries of a culture; involving more than one culture. <BR> <I>Ex. The social sciences should study cross-cultural problems as well as those of our own culture.</I> adv. <B>cross-culturally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="crosscurrent">
<B>crosscurrent</B> or <B>cross-current, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a current of air blowing across another. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) an opposing tendency or trend. <BR> <I>Ex. the crosscurrents of political thought.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosscut">
<B>crosscut, </B>noun, adjective, verb, <B>-cut,</B> <B>-cutting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a cut, course, or path going across. <DD><B> 2. </B>a short cut. <BR> <I>Ex. The quickest way is to take the crosscut through the fields.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Mining.) a passageway cut across the course of a vein. <DD><B> 4. </B><B>=crosscut saw.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>used or made for cutting across. <BR> <I>Ex. a crosscut chisel.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>cut across. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to cut across. <BR> <I>Ex. Crosscut the field to take a short cut.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosscutsaw">
<B>crosscut saw,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a saw made for cutting across the grain of wood. </DL>
<A NAME="crossdate">
<B>cross-date, </B>verb, <B>-dated,</B> <B>-dating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to establish the date or age of (trees, archaeological artifacts, or other specimens) by comparing systematically their characteristics with those of others whose age has been previously determined. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make such a comparison so as to establish a date or age. <BR> <I>Ex. With trees of known felling date the outer ring, and hence the rest, can be dated, and so by cross-dating can the outer rings of older trees or stumps which overlap the inner rings of the dated ones (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crossdress">
<B>cross-dress, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to dress in the clothing of the opposite sex. <BR> <I>Ex. Transvestites [range] from those who occasionally wear the clothes of the other sex in private to those who are only comfortable when cross-dressing in public (Harper's).</I> noun <B>cross-dresser.</B> </DL>
<B>crosse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the racket used in playing lacrosse. </DL>
<A NAME="crossexamination">
<B>cross-examination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an examination to check a previous examination. <BR> <I>Ex. A lawyer questions witnesses for the opposing side by cross-examination to test the truth of their evidence.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a close or severe questioning. </DL>
<A NAME="crossexamine">
<B>cross-examine, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-ined,</B> <B>-ining.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to question closely (a witness for the opposing side) to check the truth of his testimony. (SYN) interrogate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to question closely or severely; cross-question. noun <B>cross-examiner.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="crosseye">
<B>cross-eye, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> strabismus, especially the form in which both eyes are turned toward the nose and cannot focus on the same point. </DL>
<A NAME="crosseyed">
<B>cross-eyed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having both eyes turned toward the nose and unable to focus on the same point. </DL>
<A NAME="crossfertilization">
<B>cross-fertilization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Botany.) the fertilization of one flower by pollen from another; allogamy. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) <DD><B> a. </B>the fertilization of the ovum of one individual by the sperm of another. <DD><B> b. </B>the mating of a male of one variety with the female of another. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a mingling or exchange (of ideas, techniques, or other findings) between different industries, cultures, or other groups that would result in mutual gain. <BR> <I>Ex. But documents often fail to reveal motives; they fail to show the genesis of ideas or the cross-fertilization and intellectual pin-pricking that takes place when two or more scientists are gathered together (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crossfertilize">
<B>cross-fertilize, </B>verb, <B>-lized,</B> <B>-lizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to cause the cross-fertilization of. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to be subjected to cross-fertilization. </DL>
<A NAME="crossfile">
<B>cross-file, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-filed,</B> <B>-filing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) to file for nomination on more than one party's ticket during Congressional or other primaries. <BR> <I>Ex. In the state of California, the candidates can cross-file and appear on several ballots.</I> noun <B>cross-filer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="crossfire">
<B>cross fire,</B> or <B>crossfire, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Military.) <DD><B> a. </B>gunfire coming from two or more opposite directions so as to cross; simultaneous fire along these lines. <BR> <I>Ex. A truck was overturned and the occupants were caught in the cross fire of Israeli sharpshooters (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>one of these lines. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a verbal attack or indictment from two or more sources or directions. <BR> <I>Ex. The cross fire between committee members and Pentagon representatives, called in to explain procurement methods, was sharp (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crossfire">
<B>cross-fire, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-fired,</B> <B>-firing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make or take part in a cross fire. <DD><B> 2. </B>to strike a hind foot against a front foot. <BR> <I>Ex. Pacers are more likely to cross-fire than trotters.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to direct X rays from several points so that they cross or converge at one given point. </DL>
<A NAME="crossfoot">
<B>crossfoot, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> with the feet crossed; with one foot over the other. <BR> <I>Ex. a crossfoot spin (adj.); to dance or skate crossfoot (adv.).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crossfox">
<B>cross fox,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a color phase of the red fox having dark fur in the shape of a cross along the back and across the shoulders. </DL>
<A NAME="crossgrained">
<B>cross-grained, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having the grain arranged in crossing directions, or irregularly, instead of running straight. <BR> <I>Ex. cross-grained wood.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) hard to get along with; contrary. <BR> <I>Ex. a cross-grained old miser.</I> (SYN) intractable, perverse. </DL>
<A NAME="crossguard">
<B>cross guard,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of guard on a sword, made in the form of a bar at right angles with the blade. </DL>
<A NAME="crosshair">
<B>cross hair,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the fine strands of spider web, quartz fiber, or other material stretched across the focal plane of an optical instrument for defining accurately the line of sight; cross wire. <BR> <I>Ex. His face glued to the radarscope and its tireless, swinging line of light [he] made manual adjustments to keep the cross hairs on the pip that marked his target (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosshatch">
<B>crosshatch, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to mark or shade (an engraving, drawing, or the like) with two sets of parallel lines crossing each other. <DD><I>noun </I> one of these lines. </DL>
<A NAME="crosshatching">
<B>crosshatching, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the making of crosshatches. <DD><B> 2. </B>the marking or shading made. </DL>
<A NAME="crosshead">
<B>crosshead, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Printing.) a heading printed across the page or column in the body of the text. <DD><B> 2. </B>the bar or piece at the end of a piston rod connecting it with the connecting rod of a steam engine. </DL>
<A NAME="crossimmunity">
<B>cross-immunity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> immunity produced against a disease organism by inoculation with a different but related organism. </DL>
<A NAME="crossimmunization">
<B>cross-immunization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the state or condition of having cross-immunity. <BR> <I>Ex. A cross-immunization test is one which seeks to find out whether antibodies to one virus will neutralize a different virus (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
