cross-purpose
[ kraws-pur-puh s, kros- ]
/ ˈkrɔsˈpɜr pəs, ˈkrɒs- /
|
noun
an opposing or contrary purpose.
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For All “Intents and Purposes” vs. “Intensive Purposes”Both for all intents and purposes and for all intensive purposes are widely used to mean “for all practical purposes” or “virtually.” But which one is correct? The standard idiom is for all intents and purposes, not for all intensive purposes, though if you were to say these two forms out loud it might be hard to tell the difference between the two. For all …
Nearby words
Idioms
at cross-purposes, in a way that involves or produces mutual misunderstanding or frustration, usually unintentionally.
Origin of cross-purpose
First recorded in 1660–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for at cross purposes
cross-purpose
noun
a contrary aim or purpose
at cross-purposes conflicting; opposed; disagreeing
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with at cross purposes
at cross purposes
With aims or goals that conflict or interfere with one another, as in I'm afraid the two departments are working at cross purposes. This idiom, first recorded in 1688, may have begun as a 17th-century parlor game called “cross-purposes,” in which a series of subjects (or questions) were divided from their explanations (or answers) and distributed around the room. Players then created absurdities by combining a subject taken from one person with an explanation taken from another.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.