different between across vs towards

English

Alternative forms

• acrost (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English acros, acrosse, equivalent to a- +? cross. Compare also Middle English acrois, a-croiz, acreoiz, from Anglo-Norman an (“in, on”) + croiz (“in the form of a cross”). More at cross.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ?-kr?s?, IPA^(key): /??k??s/
• (General American) enPR: ?-krôs?, IPA^(key): /??k??s/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) enPR: ?-kr?s?, IPA^(key): /??k??s/
• Rhymes: -?s, -??s
• Hyphenation: across

Preposition

across

1. To, toward, or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).

2. On the opposite side of (something that lies between two points of interest).

3. (Southern US, African-American Vernacular) across from: on the opposite side, relative to something that lies between, from (a point of interest).
   • 1994 June 21, Thong P Tong <[email protected]>, "Re: Battle Tech Center", message-ID <[email protected]>, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games, Usenet [1]:

     And make sure you're parked across the mall in the outside lot. […] Last time I was there, I parked in a parking structure and paid an arm and a leg for it.

   • 1995, Ronald Kessler, Inside the White House, 1996 edition, ?ISBN, page 243 [2]:

     On another occasion, Clinton asked Patterson to drive him to Chelsea's school, Booker Elementary, where Clinton met the department store clerk and climbed into her car.

     "I parked across the entrance and stood outside the car looking around, about 120 feet from where they were parked in a lot that was pretty well lit," Patterson recalled. " […] They stayed in the car for thirty to forty minutes."

   • 2011, Danielle Butler, Scars of Eternity, p. 30:

     A boy that sat across me politely introduced himself as Jackson Klausner.

4. From one side to the other within (a space being traversed).
5. At or near the far end of (a space).
   • 2004, Josephine Cox, Lovers and Liars, ?ISBN, page 78 [3]:

     "Mam's baking and Cathleen's asleep. I've got a pile of washing bubbling in the copper, so I'd best be off." With that she was across the room and out the door.

6. Spanning.

7. Throughout.
8. So as to intersect or pass through or over at an angle.
   • 2010, Alex Bledsoe, The Girls with Games of Blood, Tor, ?ISBN, page 147 [4]:

     He parked across the end of the driveway, blocking her in.

9. In possession of full, up-to-date information about; abreast of.
   • 2019, Lenore Taylor, The Guardian, 20 September:

     As a regular news reader I thought I was across the eccentricities of the US president.

Derived terms

Related terms

• cross

Translations

Adverb

across (not comparable)

1. From one side to the other.

2. On the other side.

3. In a particular direction.

4. (crosswords) Horizontally.

Translations

Noun

across (plural acrosses)

1. (crosswords, often in combination) A word that runs horizontally in the completed puzzle grid or its associated clue.

   I solved all of the acrosses, but then got stuck on 3 down.

Further reading

• across in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• across in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• across at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Oscars, ROSCAs, Rascos, caross, oscars

English

Etymology

From Middle English towardes, from Old English t?weardes, t?wærdes, equivalent to toward +? -s.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t??w??dz/, [t????w??dz]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /t??w??dz/, /?t??dz/, /?to??dz/, [t????w???d?z], [t?w????d?z]
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /t??wo?dz/, [t????wo?dz], [t?w?o?dz]
• Hyphenation: to?wards

Preposition

towards

1. Alternative form of toward

   Synonym: toward

   Antonyms: fromward, fromwards

   • 1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1, pp.284-5

     Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.

Usage notes

• Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words toward and towards, the only difference in practice is dialectal. Toward is more common in American English and towards is more common in British English, though each form may be found in both varieties.

Translations

See also

• See w:Adverbial genitive

Adverb

towards (not comparable)

1. In the direction of something (indicated by context).

Adjective

towards (not comparable)

1. Near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.

Middle English

Preposition

towards

1. Alternative form of towardes