across
/əˈkrɒs
/preposition & adverb
1From one side to the other of (a place, area, etc.): [as preposition]: I ran across the street travelling across Europe [as adverb]: he had swum across...
- To travel across to the other side of the world with a woman I love, to meet up with a man I love?
- With easterly winds often travelling across the industrial areas of Europe, the visibility can be quite poor.
- The boy shrugged and walked across it to the side with the handle.
Synonyms
to the other side of, from one side of … to the other, over, throughout the width/expanse of, covering, everywhere on, on all parts of
1.1 [as adverb] Used with an expression of measurement: mounds some 30 metres across...
- The arrays will hold four dishes measuring approximately seven feet across.
- It measured 670 feet across and depicted a chain of crescents around a central circle.
- They were standing inside a large circle, probably measuring about one hundred feet across.
2Expressing position or orientation: [as preposition]: they lived across the street from one another the bridge across the river [as adverb]: he looked across at me halfway across, Jenny jumped...
- The main attraction is the Storms River and the suspension bridge that stretches across its mouth.
- He said the Flower Bridge should be built across a narrow stretch of water that was not so busy with river traffic.
- I am not a celeb but as luck would have it, I have friends living across a wide geographical stretch.
Synonyms
on the other side of, over, beyond, past
3 [as adverb] Referring to a crossword answer which reads horizontally: 19 across...
- (1 across) The perfect source of digital interactive television.
Phrases
across the board
across from
be (or get) across something
Origin
Middle English (as an adverb meaning 'in the form of a cross'): from Old French a croix, en croix 'in or on a cross', later regarded as being from a-2 + cross.
Early use was as an adverb meaning ‘in the form of a cross’; the word comes from Old French a croix, en croix ‘in or on a cross’.