CROSS-PURPOSE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Cross-purpose

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/krɔs-pˈərpəs/ Listen

noun

cross-purpose n.

A counter or opposing purpose; a contrary aim; hence, that which is inconsistent or contradictory.

pl. A conversational game, in which questions and answers are made so as to involve ludicrous combinations of ideas.

To be at cross-purposes, to misunderstand or to act counter to one another without intending it; said of persons.

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Etymology of 'Cross-purpose'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Cross-purpose" Quotes from Famous Books

... dragons, are hard to kill. If the snake does not, the tale runs still In Byfield Meadows, on Pipestave Hill. And still, whenever husband and wife Publish the shame of their daily strife, And, with mad cross-purpose, tug and strain At either end of the marriage-chain, The gossips say, with a knowing shake Of their gray heads, "Look at the Double Snake One in body and two in will, ...

— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier

... read, as is indispensable, with the hours of sending and receipt kept well in mind. No fault can be imputed to either Hooker or Sedgwick, in that the intention of the one could not be executed by the other. The apparent cross-purpose of the despatches is explained by the difficulty of communication between headquarters and ...

— The Campaign of Chancellorsville • Theodore A. Dodge

... sense. Every one knows the meaning of intriguing in common life; namely, the leading others by cunning and dissimulation, to further, without their knowledge and against their will, our own hidden designs. In the drama both these significations coincide, for the cunning of the one becomes a cross-purpose for the other. ...

— Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature • August Wilhelm Schlegel

... so readily familiar that the cross-purposes making up the plot seem to be no longer troublesome either to themselves or the audience. The interval of reassurance makes the return of strangeness more unaccountable. Antipholus is also now reassured about his gold, and the earlier cross-purpose seems only ...

— Shakespeare Study Programs; The Comedies • Charlotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke