cut across

verb

1. (intr) to be contrary to ordinary procedure or limitations

   opinion on European integration still cuts clean across party lines

2. to cross or traverse, making a shorter route

   she cut across the field quickly

Idioms and Phrases

Go beyond, transcend, as in The new regulations cut across class lines. This figurative use of cut across, which literally means “run through” or “intersect,” dates from the 1920s.

Example Sentences

Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer compounded his team’s inability to move the ball by dropping a pass while cutting across the field on third and four.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet in January, as a leader in Musk’s DOGE, he was assigned to evaluate and oversee budget cuts across a variety of federally funded international programs.

From Salon

Rajinikanth's story is that of an outsider who became Indian cinema's most beloved insider - a working-class hero whose appeal cuts across language, class, and geography.

From BBC

At a nearby checkpoint a mound of dirt cut across the road.

From BBC

Leclerc tried to cut across the grass after locking his brakes on the entry to the difficult right-left chicane but collected a barrier and destroyed the left-hand side of his car.

From BBC

Related Words

• cruise 
• navigate 
• pass over 
• ply 
• sail 
• span 
• traverse