Nearby Words
A.T. Cross Pen Company www.cross.com Buy Cross Fine Writing Instruments For Unrivaled Style & Elegance.
Dictionary.com Free Toolbar Dictionary.com Define At cross purposes Instantly. Faster Page Loads With Fewer Ads.
Ads
noun
Idiom1.
an opposing or contrary purpose.
2.
at cross-purposes, in a way that involves or produces mutual misunderstanding or frustration, usually unintentionally.
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
At cross purposes
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Origin:
1660–70
1660–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To at cross purposes
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
at cross purposes
With aims or goals that conflict or interfere with one another, as in I'm afraid the two departments are working at cross purposes. This idiom, first recorded in 1688, may have begun as a 17th-century parlor game called "cross-purposes," in which a series of subjects (or questions) were divided from their explanations (or answers) and distributed around the room. Players then created absurdities by combining a subject taken from one person with an explanation taken from another.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.