Meanings
- not comparableIn a way that goes across; crosswise.
It may be a tree, bride, that rubs his arms acrosswise […]
1898, Thomas Hardy, A Sound in the Night3 more examples
The bottom part of every yoke is to be as long as the swine (standing upon his fore feet) is high from the ground to the top of his shoulder; and sticks that are placed up and down through the yoke are to be six inches higher than the neck and three inches lower than the bottom of the yoke that is usually placed acrosswise under his throat (for all swine of a year old and upward, and so proportionably for all swine that are younger) ; only the fine on abovesaid penalty [6d.] shall not be required or paid above once in one day.
1876, Bi-centennial Celebration at Sudbury, Mass., April 18, 1876, page 8At the altar she was kneeling With her arms acrosswise folded.
1969, Paul Carus, History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil from the Earliest Times to the Present DayFirst, that certain materials claiming to be “stretchy”, weren't designed to stretch to their ultimate limit both lengthwise and acrosswise.
2011, Maree Anderson, Ruby's Dream
Origin
Cite this entry
acrosswise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acrosswise
“acrosswise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acrosswise. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acrosswise,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acrosswise.
Source: acrosswise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.