<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>
<A NAME="crossindex">
<B>cross index,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an index of cross-references. </DL>
<A NAME="crossindex">
<B>cross-index, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to index (a reference) under another heading as a cross-reference. <DD><B> 2. </B>to provide (a book, periodical, or index) with cross-references. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to be cross-indexed; contain a cross index. </DL>
<A NAME="crossinfection">
<B>cross-infection, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an infection transmitted between hospital patients having different infectious diseases. </DL>
<A NAME="crossing">
<B>crossing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the place where lines or tracks cross; intersection. <BR> <I>Ex. "Railroad crossing! Stop! Look! Listen!"</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the place at which a street or river may be crossed. <BR> <I>Ex. White lines mark the crossing.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the act of going across, especially a voyage across water. <BR> <I>Ex. The ocean liner makes the crossing from New York to England every two weeks.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the part of a cruciform church where the transept crosses the nave. <DD><B> 5. </B>an opposing; a thwarting. <DD><B> 6. </B><B>=crossbreeding.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="crossingguard">
<B>crossing guard,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person, usually uniformed, who, for pay or as a public service, directs traffic and helps school children cross the street at busy intersections. </DL>
<A NAME="crossingover">
<B>crossing over,</B> or <B>crossing-over, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) the mutual exchange of genes between homologous chromosomes during meiosis. </DL>
<A NAME="crossjack">
<B>crossjack, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a square sail on the lower yard of a mizzenmast. </DL>
<A NAME="crosskick">
<B>cross-kick, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Rugby.) <DD><I>noun </I> a kick toward the side; sideways kick. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to give (the ball) a cross-kick. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make a cross-kick. </DL>
<A NAME="crosslegged">
<B>cross-legged, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>with one leg over the other and the knees together. <DD><B> 2. </B>with the ankles crossed and the knees apart. </DL>
<A NAME="crosslet">
<B>crosslet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small cross, used as a bearing in heraldry. </DL>
<A NAME="crosslicense">
<B>cross-license, </B>noun, verb, <B>-censed,</B> <B>-censing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> an exchange of licenses to use each other's patents for a specified period. <BR> <I>Ex. The two companies arranged a royalty-free cross-license.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to exchange such licenses of patent. </DL>
<A NAME="crosslight">
<B>crosslight, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a light that crosses the direction of another light and illuminates parts which the other leaves in shade. <BR><I>expr. <B>crosslights,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>lights whose rays cross each other. </I> <I>Ex. The windows on the other sides were darkened to avoid crosslights.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>enlightenment from various unrelated or conflicting sources. <BR> <I>Ex. The fluctuations and crosslights of Lawrence's criticism ... result in a view of literature of considerable subtlety and complexity (Listener).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosslink">
<B>cross-link, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a crosswise connection. <BR> <I>Ex. Links and cross-links make a pattern of overlapping spiders' webs (Manchester Guardian).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Chemistry.) a long molecular chain joined to another chain at intervals between atomic cores for the purpose of strengthening a material, as rubber in the process of vulcanization. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to join (a molecular chain) to. <BR> <I>Ex. If the two threads of a chromosome were cross-linked before a cell divided, the two could not separate properly during division and abnormalities would result (Scientific American).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to establish cross-links. <BR> <I>Ex. Cross-linking increases strength and toughness in plastic film which has been irradiated (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosslinkage">
<B>cross-linkage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the process of establishing chemical bonds between atomic cores of different molecular chains. <BR> <I>Ex. Certain kinds of ... cross-linkages ... make the protein molecules incapable of taking further part in body processes (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=cross-link.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="crosslode">
<B>cross lode,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Mining.) a lode or vein which does not follow the regular and ordinary course of the productive lodes of the district, but intersects them at an angle. </DL>
<A NAME="crossmatch">
<B>cross-match, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to determine the compatibility of a donor's and a recipient's blood before transfusion. It is done by placing red cells of the donor and the recipient into the other's serum. If no agglutination occurs after cross-matching, the blood specimens are compatible. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to subject (blood) to cross-matching. </DL>
<A NAME="crossmate">
<B>cross-mate, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-mated,</B> <B>-mating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to mate or breed different varieties or species; cross; crossbreed. </DL>
<A NAME="crossmodal">
<B>cross-modal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Psychology.) of or having to do with cross-modality. </DL>
<A NAME="crossmodality">
<B>cross-modality, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Psychology.) the ability to match or associate things perceived through different senses, such as spoken words with written words. </DL>
<A NAME="crossmodulation">
<B>cross-modulation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Electronics.) a distortion or interference occurring when the carrier of a desired signal is modulated by an unwanted signal, as in radio transmission. <BR> <I>Ex. Watch for "cross-modulation," the undesirable presence of a strong, local station on two or three points around the dial (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crossopterygian">
<B>crossopterygian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a group of fish which, except for a species found off South Africa, is now believed to be extinct. <BR> <I>Ex. The crossopterygian fishes gave rise to the amphibians and vanished almost totally (Scientific American).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a crossopterygian fish. </DL>
<A NAME="crossover">
<B>crossover, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>anything that crosses over or connects: <DD><B> a. </B>a small bridge over a highway or parkway. <DD><B> b. </B>a process of coordinating low and high frequencies over high-fidelity speakers by feeding the low frequencies to a bass speaker and the high frequencies to a treble speaker. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) <DD><B> a. </B><B>=crossing over.</B> <DD><B> b. </B>the characteristic inherited by crossing over. <DD><B> 3. </B>a blend of the jazz form with other types of popular music or an adaptation of the jazz form to various styles and formats; fusion. <BR> <I>Ex. Although the crossover trend was the most conspicuous aspect of jazz, some artists gained respect through pure jazz performances that reached a small but loyal audience (Leonard Feather).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="crosspatch">
<B>crosspatch, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a cross, bad-tempered person. </DL>
