cross someone's mind

verb

To come into someone's thoughts suddenly and fleetingly.

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Meanings

verbcross someone's mind (third-person singular simple present crosses someone's mind, present participle crossing someone's mind, simple past and past participle crossed someone's mind)

present singular third person crosses someone's mind · participle present crossing someone's mind · participle past crossed someone's mind · past crossed someone's mind

  1. intransitiveTo come into someone's thoughts suddenly and fleetingly.

    “But honestly, my worst thought was she slipped and fell in the shower. Never did it cross my mind that, oh my God, somebody abducted her.”

    2026 August 10, Nicholas Muhoro, quoting Amy Kuns, “Jodi Huisentruit, 27, Vanished From Her Apartment Parking Lot in 1995. Police Found Signs of a Struggle”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2026
    1 more example

    Sometimes it crossed my mind that I hadn't had one of those strange spiritual experiences since my time at Vons. I wondered if perhaps they had stopped for good.

    2014, Noah Jacobson, The Pop up Kid: Secret Memoirs of the Intentionally Abused, page 300

Translations

Finnish käydä mielessä, juolahtaa mieleen
  • käydä mielessäTranslations
  • juolahtaa mieleenTranslations
French traverser l'esprit, venir à l'esprit
  • traverser l'espritTranslations
  • venir à l'espritTranslations
German in den Sinn kommen
  • in den Sinn kommenTranslations
Romanian îi trece prin cap
  • îi trece prin capTranslations
Russian приходи́ть на ум, прийти́ на ум
  • приходи́ть на ум (prixodítʹ na um)Translations
  • прийти́ на ум (prijtí na um)Translations
  • приходи́ть в го́лову (prixodítʹ v gólovu)Translations
  • прийти́ в го́лову (prijtí v gólovu)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

cross someone's mind. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross%20someone's%20mind

MLA

“cross someone's mind.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross%20someone's%20mind. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cross someone's mind,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross%20someone's%20mind.

Source: cross someone's mind on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.