Crossed

How to spell crossed

7 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce crossed

What does crossed mean?

1. verbPast tense of cross: moved from one side of something to the other, or drew a line through something.
2. adjectiveMildly angry or irritated.
3. adjectivePlaced or folded so that two things lie across each other.

Crossed in a sentence

• verb

  She crossed the busy road at the pedestrian lights.

• adjective

  She was crossed with her colleague for missing the deadline.

• adjective

  He sat with his arms crossed and refused to say another word.

• verb

  He crossed out the wrong figure and wrote the correct total above it.

• adjective

  The tired toddler grew crossed when his nap was cut short.

• adjective

  The technician found the wires crossed behind the panel.

Where does crossed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense of the verb 'cross', which traces back to the Latin word crux, meaning a stake, gallows, or the cross on which condemned prisoners were executed. That noun came into Old English and early Middle English largely through Christian usage, first as 'cross' the religious object, and it spread into Old Norse and Old Irish as well. From the noun grew a verb meaning to make the sign of the cross, then to lay one thing across another, and finally the broad modern senses of moving from one side to the other or of two lines intersecting. The single 's' that doubles in writing and the simple '-ed' ending are easy to add correctly, since 'cross' is a short, transparent root. The same crux survives in 'crucial', 'crucify', and 'crux' itself, all sharing that original idea of a decisive central point.

How the word is built

• cross (from Latin crux: a stake or cross)
• -ed (past tense / past participle suffix)