cross-country

[ adjective kraws-kuhn-tree, kros-; noun kraws-kuhn-tree, -kuhn-, kros- ]

adjective
  1. directed or proceeding over fields, through woods, etc., rather than on a road or path: a cross-country race.

  2. from one end of the country to the other: a cross-country flight.

noun,plural cross-coun·tries.
  1. a cross-country sport or race.

Origin of cross-country

1
First recorded in 1760–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cross-country in a sentence

  • He had evidently dismissed his cab at the edge of the city and had come crosscountry.

    The Tin Soldier | Temple Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for cross-country

cross-country

adjective, adverb
  1. by way of fields, woods, etc, as opposed to roads: cross-country running

  2. across a country: a cross-country railway

noun
  1. a long race held over open ground

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