across
Americanpreposition
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from one side to the other of.
a bridge across a river.
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on or to the other side of; beyond.
across the sea.
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into contact with; into the presence of, usually by accident.
to come across an old friend; to run across a first edition of Byron.
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crosswise of or transversely to the length of something; athwart.
coats across the bed; straddled across the boundary line.
adverb
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from one side to another.
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on the other side.
We'll soon be across.
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crosswise; transversely.
with arms across.
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so as to be understood or learned.
He couldn't get the idea across to the class.
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into a desired or successful state.
to put a business deal across.
adjective
preposition
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from one side to the other side of
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on or at the other side of
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so as to transcend boundaries or barriers
people united across borders by religion and history
the study of linguistics across cultures
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fully informed about; dealing with
we are across this problem
adverb
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from one side to the other
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on or to the other side
Etymology
Origin of across
Explanation
Across describes something that's situated on the opposite side or the direction you have to go to get from one side to another. Thinking about swimming across the English Channel? It's 23.7 miles across from England to France, so you might want to take a boat instead. The phrase "across the board" means that all parts of something are affected. But it originally came from horse racing, to describe when someone bet equal amounts of money on a horse to come in first, second, or third place. The "board" was the blackboard where bookmakers chalked up the odds for each horse.
Vocabulary lists containing across
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Meanwhile, a greater need for cash forces shareholders to sell anything liquid and still show gains, creating contagion-spreading problems across asset classes.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
He also leads development of PypeIt, the software astronomers across the University of California use to process observations collected by the Keck telescopes.
From Science Daily • Jul. 9, 2026
There are more than 70 cardrooms across California employing about 20,000 workers, according to the California Gaming Assn.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2026
They’re confident they will make it, with a swath of supporters from across the political spectrum and more than 105,000 signatures from all 88 Ohio counties collected in just three months since the campaign launch.
From Salon • Jul. 9, 2026
Aunt J is sitting across from me on a folding chair.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
