cross swords
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.74 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cross, sword., to place or hold two swords so they cross each other.
verb
For males, to urinate simultaneously such that the streams intersect.
Example Sentences
- "I do not relish crossing swords with Pike's hook."
- "You say that you do not see how you and I have crossed swords with the priests."
- "I must cross swords with the author of the article on the Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland, on two points."
- "Loring Pickering and George K. Fitch, the owners of these newspapers, had as early as 1870 crossed swords with the local typographical union, and had been defeated in a strike when they had attempted a reduction in wages."
- "Crossing swords with oligarchs is one problem. An equally tough problem is crossing swords with the straight political elites, particularly the power ministries."