cross as a bear

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Grumpy, ill-humored, annoyed, as in Stay away from Claire; she's cross as a bear this morning. Unlike the earlier cross as two stocks, this survives even though the adjective cross for “ill-tempered” is otherwise not used much in America. It is sometimes amplified as cross as a bear with a sore head. [Early 1700s]

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Words nearby cross as a bear

cross, cross a bridge when one comes to it, cross-action, cross-addicted, crossandra, cross as a bear, cross assembler, crossband, crossbar, crossbeam, cross-bearer

How to use cross as a bear in a sentence

ROME — What does it take for a Hollywood A-lister to get a private audience with Pope Francis?
Pope Francis Has the Pleasure of Meeting Angelina Jolie for a Few Seconds|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and is marked by nine stations of the cross.
Oops! Jesus’ Last Steps Are in the Wrong Place|Candida Moss|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If they were meaningful, we might have realized it before—surely one of these kids wore a cross, or a yarmulke, or a hijab?
Harry Potter and the Torah of Terror|Candida Moss, Joel Baden|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Yes, Byrd—dead four-and-a-half years now—was a Kleagle in the Ku Klux Klan.
Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game|Michael Tomasky|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

“If Charleston harbor needs improvement, let the commerce of Charleston bear the burden,” he said.
Steve Scalise Shows There’s a Fine Line Between Confederate & Southern|Lloyd Green|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
Many British Ferns evidence a marked tendency to “sport,” and this is a fact which the beginner should always bear in mind.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
The bear laughed and joined his companion, and the torpedo thundered away.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
Now-a-days it is the bankrupt who flouts, and his too confiding creditors who are jeered and laughed at.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
This may be done by taking the humming tone and bringing to bear upon it a strong pressure of energy.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick