crossback

English

Suspenders (braces) with crossback

Railroad crossback sign

Crossback

Etymology

• cross +‎ back
• (Catholic person): Alluding to Catholic priests wearing crosses on the backs of their vestments in church services.

Noun

crossback (plural crossbacks)

1. Two pieces on the back of an item (for attaching or bracing it) which form an "X".
   • 1876, Lyman Bridges, Report on the Buildings of the Exhibition and on Railroad Structures:

     The seats are benches with crossbacks; the desks have movable tops, but these are to be replaced by stools and good stationary desks.

   • 1896, John William Martin, Pike and Perch Fishing:

     This reel need not be very large, nor yet very expensive, a plain, easy-running wooden one about three inches in diameter, and costing no more than from two to three shillings, will be plenty good enough ; but one thing the tyro ought to observe, and that is, the reel should have a strong crossback to it ; the brasswork on the back should be fitted right across and in four opposite directions.

   • 1926, United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, page 35:

     It seems that about two hours before that the crossback in the hatch which supported the hatch covers, had fallen out, and was lying on the floor of the hold, its fall being due to an ascending draft.

   • 1952, Orthopaedic Appliances Atlas - Volume 2, page 113:

     The crossback elastic strap not only gives greater excursion both in scapular abduction and in arm flexion but it helps to prevent the control attachment strap from riding over the shoulder during extreme arm flexion, such as when the amputee is working in areas over his head.

   • 2016, Ailsa Wild, Squishy Taylor and a Question of Trust, →ISBN:

     Mum sent me climbing clothes from Geneva after I told her I was doing it: threequarterlength galaxy-print leggings and a silver sports top. I like the top because it has a crossback that makes my shoulders look strong.

2. An "X"-shaped railroad crossing sign.
   • 1944, Pennsylvania. Public Utilities Commission, Decisions - Volume 23, page 120:

     Where the traffic over a railroad crossing consisted of 5 locomotive round-trips weekly and 1,275 motor vehicles daily, the Commission held that public safety required not only standard reflector-type advance and crossback crossing warning signals be erected, but that a member of the train crew precede each locomotive, car or train across the highway and warn the traveling public.

   • 1978, EIS, Key to Environmental Statements, page 76:

     Flashing signals would be provided at the six roads with the greatest traffic volumes, and standard crossbacks would be posted at the other crossings.

   • 1981, Excerpta Medica: Occupational health and industrial medicine:

     Two experimental versions of the X-shaped railway crossback sign (white with red border, and yellow with black border) and the Canadian standard were compared in a series of 4 experiments.

3. (derogatory, offensive) A Catholic.
   • 1986, Paul Zalis, Who is the River: Getting Lost and Found in the Amazon and Other Places:

     They take everything the priests got and then zzzip." Melnick ran his fingers across his throat. "Sayonara, crossbacks.

   • 1991, Robert Henry Menke, Hoosier Vignettes, page 122:

     Scott accosted Hanger on the way to school and asked him if he was coming out for basketball. Hanger replied that he was tired of being called a "crossback" by a few Protestant hecklers.

   • 1994, Bill Shover, James Obergfell, Cathedral: Seventy-Five Years, →ISBN, page 9:

     But down there on the line or under the basket, our opponents called us 'crossbacks,' 'Micks' or even worse.

   • 1999, Carol Jackson Adams, Gary Topping, History still matters, →ISBN, page 223:

     "We don't want no crossbacks or kikes around here," Dave said.

4. (dance) A step in which one leg crosses behind the other.
   • 1957, Beale Fletcher, How to improve your tap dancing:

     There is a constant crossback movement, first with one foot and then with the other.

   • 1990, Jo Ann McNamara, Sharon Pendleton, The ABCs of Aerobics, →ISBN, page 28:

     Step with the left foot ending behind the right (crossback position).

   • 2000, Constance Valis Hill, Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers:

     Whether tip-toeing daintily or skidding with controlled abandon across the space, Harold's softshoe dance ran the gamut of classic jazz dance steps. Circling crossbacks and crossovers, step-ball-changes, spin turns and grapevines, ...

5. (American football) A play in which the player with the ball crosses to one side of the field and then doubles back to the other.
   • 1906, The Lafayette Weekly - Volume 33, page 33:

     Ruddey made two on a crossback and Reddey was forced along for one., after which Hachah decided to punt, which he did forthwith, the ball alighting in Hart 's arms.

   • 1919, Columbia Alumni News - Volume 9, page 119:

     On the kick-off, Cochran ran the ball back to the thirty-eight-yard line. It took only seventeen plays, most of them off tackle plunges, before Houlahan slid over the line on a crossback for the touchdown.

   • 1998, Mike Bobo, Spike Dykes, Principles of Coaching Football, →ISBN, page 94:

     Go over several movements that the running backs and quarterback can make (i.e., option, crossback plays, quick pitches, sweeps, etc.).

6. The measurement from the outer edge of one shoulder blade to the outer edge of the other.
   • 2002, Nan Luan, Body cathexis, general satisfaction with garment fit, and exposure to western cultrue of Chinese and Chinesse American women aged 18:

     The crossback measurements of the Chinese subjects ranged from 35.56-43.18 cm (14.00-17.00 in).

   • 2012, Classic Elite Yarns Pattern Book 9180: A Walk in the Park:

     Finished Measurements: Bust (in): 34.5-(38-41.5-45)” Crossback (in): l4-(14.75-15.75-l6.25)”

7. A hairpin bend.
   • 1991, Anne Chambers Lewis, Gaining ground:

     After two years of work, the maps they are drawing show some deadends, crossbacks, and long stops;

   • 2007, Damara Paris, Hilary White, Miriam Richards, High Point of Persistence, →ISBN, page 119:

     Eventually we rounded more crossbacks and started to see various summits.

8. A cross-course.
   • 1894, North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, Transactions - Volume 43, page 440:

     The north section of the mine has also a crossback or cross-course, but the result at the crossing is so completely reversed that one is struck with astonishment to see the opposites in the same formation.

9. A return to the original course of action by one who previously changed to a different course of action, or the person making that return.
   • 1986, Jeffrey Bland, A Year in Nutritional Medicine, page 79:

     An additional within-subject study of twenty-eight juveniles who experienced both diets (twelve crossover and sixteen crossbacks to the original diet) resulted in a 35 percent reduced incidence of antisocial behavior.

   • 1977, Jules Witcover, Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972-1976, page 423:

     Wellborn said it might not be so much "crossovers" as "crossbacks" — Republicans returning to the party fold after their 1972 flirtation with Wallace — who would help Reagan upset Ford.

   • 2003, Crystal L. Keels, Virtual Freedom: Black Critical Intervention in Contemporary Culture:

     By employing virtual reality and new communications technologies, Prince, who in the early 1980s was one of the world's most successful crossover artists, has now succeeded in form of crossback.

10. A cross between a hybrid species and one of the original parent species.
    • 1975, The International Camellia Journal - Issues 7-12, page 38:

      The future progress of these varieties, and of the further crosses and crossbacks, therefrom, will be watched by this observer with the utmost hope and anticipation!

    • 1977, G. B. R. Walker, Colored canaries, →ISBN, page 75:

      To ensure that this does not happen a crossback to a normal is advised every third year at least.

    1. A species resulting from such a crossback.
       • 1990, John J. Sabuco, Kimberly Ann Besowshek, Hana Sawyer, The best of the hardiest, page 137:

         Some years ago a group of hybrids and hybrid crossbacks named the Guyencourt Hybrids was introduced.

Verb

crossback (third-person singular simple present crossbacks, present participle crossbacking, simple past and past participle crossbacked)

1. To cross a hybrid species with one of the original parent species.
   • 1960, Iago Galdston, Human Nutrition: Historic and Scientific, page 156:

     The rows which are as good as the resistant parent, we crossback to the high-yielding sort.

   • 1974, Farmers' Bulletin, page 21:

     Progeny were closely culled and crossbacked with emphasis on fertility, mothering ability, and gain ability.

Anagrams

• back cross, back-cross, backcross