crossed

/krɒst/ (bre, ipa) · /krɑːst/ (ame, ipa)

crossed — adjective

  • crossedpositive
  • crossedercomparative
  • crossedestsuperlative

1. with one arm, leg, or finger lying or folded over the other.

1.形容詞B1
釋義

with one arm, leg, or finger lying or folded over the other.

例句

Hyun sat on the floor with her legs crossed, listening to the story.

with + crossed (passive participle as adjective)

Indra waited outside the office with crossed arms, looking annoyed.

attributive use before noun

同義詞
  • folded

    used of arms more than legs; suggests deliberate posture

  • interlocked

    more emphatic; often used of fingers

反義詞
  • open

    of arms; suggests welcoming or relaxed posture

  • uncrossed

    the direct opposite, less common in everyday speech

文法句型

crossed + body part

with arms/legs crossed

用法筆記

Most often follows 'with' as a participle clause describing posture (e.g. 'with arms crossed'). The bare predicative form 'his arms are crossed' is also natural.

常見錯誤

❌She sat with her legs crossing.
✅She sat with her legs crossed.
💡'crossed' (past participle) describes the resulting position; the present participle suggests an ongoing action.

2. used in the phrase 'fingers crossed' to say you are hoping strongly that somethi

2.形容詞B2
釋義

used in the phrase 'fingers crossed' to say you are hoping strongly that something turns out the way you want.

例句

Fingers crossed that Imran passes his driving test on Saturday.

fingers crossed + that-clause introducing the hope

Romi sent the job application this morning — fingers crossed!

standalone exclamation expressing hope

同義詞
  • hopefully

    adverb; expresses the same wish in a single word

  • touch wood

    British idiom; said to avoid bad luck after stating something positive

文法句型

fingers crossed (+ that-clause)

(with) fingers crossed

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: here 'crossed' only appears inside the fixed phrase 'fingers crossed', which functions as a wish or charm, not a literal description of finger position. Often used as an exclamation on its own.

常見錯誤

❌I hope fingers crossed he wins.
✅Fingers crossed (that) he wins.
💡'fingers crossed' starts the wish; you don't pair it with another 'hope' verb.

3. marked with a line drawn over written words or items, usually to cancel or corre

3.形容詞B2
釋義

marked with a line drawn over written words or items, usually to cancel or correct them.

例句

Ignacio handed in a shopping list with several crossed items in the middle.

attributive: crossed + noun (cancelled entries)

The teacher returned Tyler's homework full of crossed words and red corrections.

collocation: crossed words (corrected text)

同義詞

文法句型

crossed + noun (item with a line through it)

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 4 (a place with something running across it): sense 3 means a line was actively drawn over written material, usually to delete or correct.

4. describing a place that has a path, river, road, or bridge running over it from

4.形容詞C1
釋義

describing a place that has a path, river, road, or bridge running over it from one side to the other.

例句

Talia hiked through a forest crossed by narrow streams and old wooden bridges.

crossed by + means of crossing

The valley, crossed by a single railway line, felt cut off from the city below.

crossed by + linear feature running over the place

同義詞
  • intersected

    more technical; common in geography or maps

  • traversed

    formal; emphasises a single path going through

文法句型

adverb + crossed (e.g. wave-crossed, river-crossed)

用法筆記

Almost always used in the pattern 'X crossed by Y', where Y is a path, river, road, or other linear feature. The bare form 'a crossed field' is unnatural without the 'by' phrase.

常見錯誤

❌The plain was crossed.
✅The plain was crossed by a river.
💡this sense needs a 'by' phrase naming what runs across; without it the sentence sounds incomplete.

5. describing an animal or plant produced by mating or combining two different type

5.形容詞C1
釋義

describing an animal or plant produced by mating or combining two different types to make something new.

例句

Liang adopted a crossed terrier with the energy of two breeds at once.

crossed + dog breed noun

The farm sells crossed tomatoes that ripen earlier than the original variety.

crossed + plant noun (new hybrid type)

同義詞
  • crossbred

    more technical; preferred in farming and animal-science contexts

  • hybrid

    broader; covers any mixing of two types, including non-biological things

  • mixed

    informal; often used of pet dogs

反義詞
  • purebred

    an animal whose parents are of the same single breed

文法句型

crossed + animal/plant noun

a crossed breed of X

用法筆記

Object is usually an animal or plant produced by deliberate breeding (a dog, a sheep, a strain of rice). The adjective 'crossbred' is a very close near-synonym and slightly more technical.

6. describing a cheque marked with two parallel lines on its face, which means the

6.形容詞C2
釋義

describing a cheque marked with two parallel lines on its face, which means the money can only go straight into someone's account and cannot be turned into cash at the counter.

例句

Constanza sent a crossed cheque so the payment went straight into the supplier's account.

crossed cheque + paid into bank only

The bank clerk explained that a crossed cheque cannot be cashed at the counter.

crossed cheque + cannot be cashed

同義詞
反義詞

文法句型

crossed cheque

crossed check

用法筆記

Specific to UK and Commonwealth banking; in American English the spelling is 'crossed check' but the practice is less common. The cheque becomes 'crossed' once two parallel lines are drawn across its face.