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crosshairs

noun

Form of crosshair , plural of crosshair.

Simple meaning

A set of two perpendicular lines in the sight of a firearm, used to align the gun with the target.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

krawshehrz

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkɹɔsˈhɛɹz

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A set of two perpendicular lines in the sight of a firearm, used to align the gun with the target.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Rare
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A set of two perpendicular lines in the sight of a firearm, used to align the gun with the target.

Used this way, crosshairs is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a mathematical use: it is defined precisely and belongs to working with figures and calculations rather than to ordinary conversation.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Mathematics
  • Geometry
  • Academic writing
  • Education/classroom

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use crosshairs

  • “The war on terrorism has put Saddam Hussein in the crosshairs.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

screen crosshairscrosshairs appearcrosshairs cursorsmall crosshairsguide crosshairs

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Related Words

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.