[Illustration]
CROSIER, CROZIER, kr[=o]'zh[.e]r, _n._ a cross mounted on a staff, borne
before archbishops and patriarchs--often confounded with the pastoral
staff.--_adj._ CR[=O]'SIERED. [O. Fr. _crocier_--Late L. _crociarius_--L.
_crux_, a cross.]
[Illustration]
CROSS, kros, _n._ a gibbet on which malefactors were hung, consisting of
two pieces of timber, one placed crosswise on the other, either thus [Latin
cross] or [St Andrew's cross]: the instrument on which Christ suffered, and
thus the symbol of the Christian religion: the sufferings of Christ: the
atonement effected by these: a representation of the cross, a staff
surmounted by a cross, a monument, model, or ornament in the form of a
cross, esp. that in this form in the centre of a town at which
proclamations are made, &c.: (_Scot._) a signal or call to arms sent
throughout a district, being a cross of two sticks charred and dipped in
blood (FIERY CROSS): the transverse part of an anchor, or the like: a
surveyor's cross-staff: anything that crosses or thwarts: a crossing or
crossway: adversity or affliction in general.--_v.t._ to mark with a cross,
or to make the sign of the cross.--_ns._ CROSS'-AISLE, a transept aisle of
a cruciform church; CROSS'-BEAR'ER, one who carries a cross in a
procession; CROSS'-BUN, a bun marked with the form of a cross, eaten on
Good-Friday; CROSS'ING, the making the sign of the cross; CROSS'-STITCH, a
double stitch in the form of a cross; CROSS'LET, a little cross.--CROST,
obsolete _pa.p._ of CROSS.--CROSS-AND-PILE, the obverse and reverse side of
a coin, head and tail; CROSS OF CALVARY, the Latin cross or cross of
crucifixion elevated on three steps; CROSS OF JERUSALEM, one having each
arm capped by a cross-bar; CROSS OF LORRAINE, a cross with two horizontal
arms, combining the Greek and Latin crosses; CROSS OF ST JAMES, a Latin
cross figured as a sword; CROSS OF ST PATRICK, the saltier cross of Ireland
(red on a white ground).--CROSS ONE'S MIND, to flash across the mind; CROSS
THE PATH OF ANY ONE, to thwart him.--ANSATE CROSS (_crux ansata_), a common
symbol of immortality in ancient Egypt; ARCHIEPISCOPAL CROSS, the pastoral
staff surmounted by a cross; BUDDHIST CROSS, the gammadion or fylfot, with
returned arms, a symbol found in prehistoric remains in Italy and
elsewhere; CAPITAL CROSS, a Greek cross having each extremity terminated in
an ornament like a Tuscan capital; CAPUCHIN-CROSS, a cross having each arm
terminated by a ball; CELTIC CROSS, a type of cross found in Ireland and in
the north and west of Scotland, varying from a cross incised on a flat
slate to an elaborate cruciform monument--some crosses of this type show
Scandinavian workmanship, and hence are often called RUNIC CROSSES; GREEK
CROSS, an upright cross with limbs of equal length--the well-known CROSS OF
ST GEORGE (red on a white ground); LATIN CROSS (_crux immissa_), an upright
cross having the lower limb longer than the others; MALTESE CROSS, the
badge of the knights of Malta, converging to a point in the centre, with
two points to each limb; NORMAN CROSS, an elaborate memorial cross like a
Gothic turret set on the ground, or on the base of a few steps, with niches
for figures and pinnacles; PATRIARCHAL CROSS, a cross with two horizontal
bars; ROUEN CROSS, a cross in fretwork, as a brooch or pendant; ST ANDREW'S
CROSS (_crux decussata_), or CROSS SALTIER, a cross of two shafts of equal
length crossed diagonally at the middle--the saltier cross of Scotland
(white on a blue ground); ST ANTHONY'S CROSS (_crux commissa_), shaped like
a [St Anthony's cross]; SOUTHERN CROSS, a constellation in the Antarctic
region where the stars are in the form of a cross. [O. Fr. _crois_ (Fr.
_croix_)--L. _cruc-em_, orig. an upright post to which latterly a
cross-piece was added.]
CROSS, kros, _adj._ lying across: transverse: oblique: opposite: adverse:
ill-tempered: interchanged: dishonest: balancing, neutralising.--_adv._
across.--_n._ a crossing or mixing of breeds, esp. of cattle: something
intermediate in character between two other things: dishonest practices,
esp. in a sporting contest when one of the parties corruptly allows himself
to be beaten.--_v.t._ to lay one body or draw one line across another: to
cancel by drawing cross lines: to pass from side to side: to write across a
bank-cheque the name of a banking company, or simply '& Co.' between the
lines, to be filled up with the name of a banking company, through whom
alone it may be paid: to obstruct: to thwart: to interfere with.--_v.i._ to
lie or be athwart: to move or pass from place to place.--_n._
CROSS'-AC'TION (_law_), an action brought by the defender against the
pursuer in the same cause.--_adjs._ CROSS'-ARMED, having the arms crossed:
(_bot._) brachiate; CROSS'-BAND'ED, having the grain of the veneer run
across that of the rail--of a hand-rail.--_n._ CROSS'-BAR, a transverse
bar: a kind of lever.--_adj._ CROSS'-BARRED.--_ns._ CROSS'-BEAM, a large
beam stretching across a building and serving to hold its sides together;
CROSS'-BENCH, in the House of Lords, certain benches so placed, on which
independent members sometimes sit; CROSS'-BILL, a bill brought by the
defendant in a Chancery suit against the plaintiff; CROSS'-BILL, a genus of
birds resembling bullfinches, linnets, &c., with the mandibles of the bill
crossing each other near the points; CROSS'-BIRTH, a birth in which the
child lies transversely in the uterus.--_v.t._ CROSS'BITE, to bite the
biter.--_n.pl._ CROSS'-BONES, a figure of two thigh-bones laid across each
other--together with the skull, a conventional emblem of death.--_ns._
CROSS'BOW, a weapon for shooting arrows, formed of a bow placed crosswise
on a stock; CROSS'BOWER, -BOWMAN, one who uses a crossbow.--_adj._
CROSS'-BRED.--_ns._ CROSS'-BREED, a breed produced by the crossing or
intermixing of different races; CROSS'-BREED'ING; CROSS'-BUTT'OCK, a
particular throw over the hip in wrestling; CROSS'-CHEQUE (see
CHEQUE).--_adj._ CROSS'-COUN'TRY, across the fields rather than by the
road.--_n._ CROSS'-CUT, a short road across from one point to
another.--_v.t._ to cut across.--_ns._ CROSS'CUT-SAW, a large saw worked by
two men, one at each end, for cutting beams crosswise; CROSS'-DIVI'SION,
the division of any group into divisions that cut across each other and
produce confusion.--_adj._ CROSSED, marked by a line drawn crosswise, often
denoting cancellation: folded: cruciate.--_n._
CROSS'-EXAMIN[=A]'TION.--_v.t._ CROSS'-EXAM'INE, to test the evidence of a
witness by subjecting him to an examination by the opposite party.--_adj._
CROSS'-EYED, having a squint.--_ns._ CROSS'-FERTILIS[=A]'TION, the
fecundation of a plant by pollen from another; CROSS'-FIRE (_mil._), the
crossing of lines of fire from two or more points; CROSS'-GAR'NET, a
T-shaped hinge.--_adjs._ CROSS'-GAR'TERED (_Shak._), wearing the garters
crossed on the leg; CROSS'-GRAINED, having the grain or fibres crossed or
intertwined: perverse: contrary: intractable.--_ns._ CROSS'-GRAIN'EDNESS;
CROSS'-GUARD, the bar, at right angles to the blade, forming the hilt-guard
of a sword; CROSS'-HATCH'ING, the art of shading by parallel intersecting
lines; CROSS'-HEAD, a beam across the head of something, esp. the bar at
the end of the piston-rod of a steam-engine; CROSS'ING, act of going
across: the place where a roadway, &c. may be crossed: intersection: act of
thwarting: cross-breeding.--_adj._ CROSS'-LEGGED, having the legs
crossed.--_adv._ CROSS'LY.--_ns._ CROSS'NESS; CROSS'-PATCH, an ill-natured
person; CROSS'-PIECE, a piece of material of any kind crossing another:
(_naut._) a timber over the windlass, with pins for belaying the running
rigging; CROSS'-PUR'POSE, a contrary purpose: contradictory conduct or
system: an enigmatical game; CROSS'-QUAR'TERS, an ornament of tracery like
the four petals of a cruciform flower: a quatrefoil.--_v.t._
CROSS'-QUES'TION, to question minutely, to cross-examine.--_ns._
CROSS'-REF'ERENCE, a reference in a book to another title or passage;
CROSS'-ROAD, a road crossing the principal road, a bypath; CROSS'-ROW (same
as CHRIST-CROSS-ROW); CROSS'-SEA, a sea that sets at an angle to the
direction of the wind; CROSS'-SILL, a railroad sleeper lying under the
rails transversely as a support to the stringer; CROSS'-SPRING'ER, a
cross-rib in a groined vault; CROSS'-STAFF, a surveying instrument
consisting of a staff surmounted with a brass circle divided into four
equal parts by two intersecting lines; CROSS'-STONE, chiastolite:
staurolite: harmotome; CROSS'-TIE, in a railroad, a timber placed under
opposite rails as a support; CROSS'-TIN'ING, a mode of harrowing
crosswise.--_n.pl._ CROSS'TREES, pieces of timber placed across the upper
end of the lower-masts and top-masts of a ship.--_ns._ CROSS'-VAULT'ING,
vaulting formed by the intersection of two or more simple vaults;
CROSS'WAY, a way that crosses another; CROSS'-WIND, an unfavourable wind, a
side-wind.--_adv._ CROSS'WISE, in the form of a cross: across.--CROSS AS
TWO STICKS, particularly perverse and disagreeable.--CROSS THE PATH of any
one, to thwart him; CROSS ONE'S MIND, to flash across the mind.
CROSSE, kros, _n._ the implement used in _lacrosse_.
CROSSETTE, kro-set', _n._ a small projecting part of an impost-stone at the
extremity of an arch: a shoulder in an arch-stone fitting into the stone
next to it. [Fr.]
CROTALARIA, kr[=o]-ta-l[=a]'ri-a, _n._ a genus of _Leguminosæ_, the
rattlewort. [Gr. _krotalon_, a rattle.]
CROTALIDÆ, kr[=o]-tal'i-d[=e], _n.pl._ a family of venomous serpents,
including rattlesnakes, copper-heads, &c.
CROTALO, kr[=o]'ta-l[=o], _n._ a Turkish musical instrument, like the
ancient cymbalum.
CROTCH, kroch, _n._ a fork, as of a tree: the bifurcation of the human
body.--_adj._ CROTCHED. [Ety. obscure.]
CROTCHET, kroch'et, _n._ a hook: a note in music, equal to half a minim,
[Crotchet]: a crooked or perverse fancy: a whim, or conceit.--_adjs._
CROTCH'ETED, CROTCH'ETY, having crotchets or peculiarities:
whimsical.--_n._ CROTCH'ETEER, a crotchety person. [Fr. _crochet_, dim. of
_croche_, a hook. See CROCHET.]
CROTON, kr[=o]'ton, _n._ a genus of tropical plants, producing a
brownish-yellow oil, having a hot, biting taste.--_ns._ CR[=O]'TONATE, a
salt formed by the union of crotonic acid with a base; CR[=O]'TON-OIL, a
powerful purgative oil, expressed from the seeds of the _Croton tiglium_,
also used externally.--CROTON'IC ACID, an acid obtained from croton-oil.
[Gr. _krot[=o]n_, a tick or mite, which the seed of the plant resembles.]