1A surface or shape that is or would be exposed by making a straight cut through something, especially at right angles to an axis.

1. 1.1 A thin strip of organic tissue or other material removed by making two straight parallel cuts through it.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • It requires that a cross section of the animals' spinal column be removed.
   • Partial wood cross sections were removed from each tree with a chainsaw and the location of each sample was then determined and placed on the topographic map.
   • Due to the rarity of pores in the longitudinal cross sections here examined, it was difficult to determine the relative thickness of the two types of sublayer.
   • Further, it has been described that the cross section of collagen fibrils contains central low density areas.
   • The cross sections of the samples are analyzed, and the pigments are identified under a polarizing or scanning electron microscope.
   • By examining the cross sections of bones microscopically, paleontologists can determine how much the bones grew each year, as well as the age of an animal at death.
   • Two trenches excavated across sets of ridges provided cross sections and a sample of material from ridge contexts.
   • Columns of vascular tissue are visible here in a cross section of trunk.
   • My old swimming goggles fit perfectly on the thin cross section of birch.
   • Columnar grains were observed on macroscopic examination of a transverse cross section cut from this region.
   • I finally gave up on the cross sections when I found myself spending more time removing mud than sketching and just concentrated on keeping the data legible.
   • The NYSNA distributed information about how to stop smoking along with samples of nicotine patches, and we had a display that included cross sections of lungs displaying healthy, emphysema, and actual lung tumor tissue.
   • When you look at cross sections of muscle before and after a long bout of exercise, the glycogen is gone, but so are the lipids [fat].
   • After three daily changes of molten paraffin, tissues were embedded in paraffin to provide cross sections.
   • Culture involves a hanging sheet of acrylic of an approximate pine-tree shape, on which are mounted 26 petri dishes, most containing thin cross sections of rolled canvas.
   • This is a combination of the thin cross section and the poor clamp design.
2. 1.2 A diagram representing what a cross section would reveal.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • All finds are recorded with bird's eye view and cross section diagrams and a log of the distance above or below sea level.
   • A scan creates cross section images of the body, which may show cancer or its spread to other organs.
   • Inserted inside the esophagus, the probe creates a picture of the whole heart in the time it takes for current ultrasound technology to image a single heart cross section.
   • The small circle to the left of the plant diagrams a cross-section through the stem with false vascular tissue.
3. 1.3 A typical or representative sample of a larger group, especially of people.
   a cross section of our senior managers

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Representatives from a wide cross section of the community will be getting round the table with airport chiefs for the third community and stakeholder conference.
   • This entailed a full day of dialogue with representative cross sections of the Canadian population.
   • The British Household Panel Study is an annual survey of a representative cross section of British households.
   • A strategy group will then be established comprising representatives from a cross section of parties involved in rural tourism and clear objectives will be defined for the sector.
   • However, training with just one or two people can put you in a rut, make sure you roll with as wide a cross section of the club as possible.
   • It is vitally important that the membership reflects the views of as wide a cross section of the diverse elements of the borough as possible.
   • There was lively and diverse debate throughout the day among the wide cross section of groups that attended the conference.
   • He also selected diverse corporate media executives, hoping that the cross section of these media representatives would ensure that any self-interests would cancel one another out.
   • I became in charge of running the day and I could see that if I didn't get this day to appeal to a wider cross section, then it would fall into decline.
   • We appeal to a wide cross section of the community.
   • This new plan is the work of a wide cross section of clinical staff, patients and their representatives as well as health service managers.
   • This is part of the Central Bank's attempt to diversify the users of the auditorium to ensure that as wide a cross section of the community gets to use the space.
   • This is not a car simply for beefy blokes with big arms to twirl around correcting manic oversteer - it's a car that should appeal to a wide cross section of enthusiasts.
   • Established over more than 40 years ago, our customer base covers a wide cross section of European and Export military, police and civil customers.
   • Coming up with a glossary of terms would promote understanding, but limit the expression of vast cross sections of the demographic.
   • These visits generate very positive publicity in a wide cross section of important tourist markets.
   • If the sample taken wasn't a cross section of the people who live in the borough then it isn't representative.
   • What I did do was test a good cross section of available ammo that is identified as match-grade.
   • The target regions were strategically selected to provide a representative cross section of the entire human genome sequence.
   • The centre is the ideal venue as it attracts a wide cross section of the local community who visit its library, cafe, doctor's surgery, gym and community groups which are all based at the centre.

   Synonyms

   variety, sampling, test
4. 1.4Physics A quantity having the dimensions of an area which expresses the probability of a given interaction between particles.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • True, we should not expect the biology teacher to teach the fluid dynamics of the circulatory system, or the chemistry teacher to teach the concept of cross sections when introducing nuclear chemistry.
   • Ultimatum is used in nuclear reactors as a reflector or moderator for it has a low thermal neutron absorption cross section.
   • Beyond the gas chamber was a detector, which allowed them to measure the cross section - the probability for benzene molecules to interact with gas atoms at each velocity.
   • The comments did, however, leave open the outside possibility that such an inordinate cross section might be due to some role of the atomic electrons in coupling the x-ray photons strongly to the nucleus.

Make a cross section of (something)