Iron Cross

American  

noun

1. a German medal awarded for outstanding bravery or service during wartime.

2. (lowercase) an upright, crosslike position held between the rings, with the arms fully extended laterally and the legs held together and pointed downward.

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Iron Cross British  

noun

1. the highest decoration for bravery awarded to the German armed forces in wartime: instituted in 1813

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Etymology

Origin of Iron Cross

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

After hitting the hillside in Hundred House, his body and that of his gunner Adolf Liessig were laid out by members of the local military in the farm's granary, where Brixius's Iron Cross was either lost or discarded.

From BBC

But after the bodies were taken away and the granary was handed back, Mr Bufton's parents, Jack and Muriel, found the lost Iron Cross embellished with the swastika.

From BBC

The family do not know why Brixius had been awarded the Iron Cross but, because it was given in September 1939, it was assumed it was for action over Poland or the Sudetenland.

From BBC

He received the Iron Cross in 1939, and it has now been returned to his family in Münster, near Dortmund.

From BBC

He decided to write a poem about the crosses which, with the help of his friend and fellow musician Steve Macbeth, was turned into a song called My Iron Cross.

From BBC