cross

at cross purposes misunderstanding or having different aims from one another.

cross as two sticks very annoyed or grumpy. British informal

☞ This expression is a play on the two senses of cross, firstly 'bad-tempered' and secondly 'intersecting'.

cross your fingers (or keep your fingers crossed) hope that your plans will be successful; trust in good luck.

☞ The gesture of putting your index and middle fingers across each other as a sign of hoping for good luck is a scaled-down version of the Christian one of making the sign of the Cross with your whole hand and arm as a request for divine protection. It is also superstitiously employed when telling a deliberate lie, with the idea of warding off the evil that might be expected to befall a liar. The abbreviated fingers crossed is often used as if as a charm, to keep ill luck at bay.

2014Stuart Ian BurnsFeeling Listless Hopefully 2014 won't include another hernia or anything else which requires an operation, fingers crossed.

cross the floor join the opposing side in Parliament. British

☞ The floor of the UK House of Commons is the open space separating members of the Government and Opposition parties, who sit on benches facing each other across it.

cross my heart used to emphasize the truthfulness and sincerity of what you are saying or promising. informal

☞ The full version of this expression is cross my heart and hope to die, and is sometimes reinforced by making a sign of the Cross over your chest.

cross your mind: seemind.

cross someone's palm with silver pay someone for a favour or service. often humorous

☞ Crossing someone's palm with silver was originally connected with the telling of fortunes, when the client would literally trace out the sign of a cross on the hand of the fortune-teller with a silver coin.

cross the Rubicon: seeRubicon.

cross swords have an argument or dispute.

☞ Originally, this expression had the literal sense of 'fight a duel'.

cross that bridge when you come to it: seebridge.

dot the i's and cross the t's: seedot.

have your cross to bear suffer the troubles that life brings.

☞ The reference here is to Jesus (or Simon of Cyrene) carrying the Cross to Calvary before the Crucifixion. The image is also used metaphorically in the New Testament (for example, in Matthew 10:38: 'And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me').