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cross-purpose

[ kraws-pur-puhs, kros- ]

noun

  1. an opposing or contrary purpose.


cross-purpose

noun

  1. a contrary aim or purpose
  2. at cross-purposes
    conflicting; opposed; disagreeing
“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of cross-purpose1

First recorded in 1660–70
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. at cross-purposes, in a way that involves or produces mutual misunderstanding or frustration, usually unintentionally.
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Example Sentences

It seems someway unlike God to make each person a something all of cross-purpose.

I am not prone on my green couch, frayed, frazzled, bowed-down in spirit from a day of frightful stress and cross-purpose.

I do not excuse Sunna, but I say that wherever there is a cross purpose, there has likely never been a straight one.

If we find every fact of life at cross-purpose with Scripture, what then?

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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