Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
↘️ Diagonal across court ↘️ A diagonal shot
cross-court

cross-court

1 3.9
Going at an angle across the court from one side to the other
  • adjective
  • /ˈkrɔsˌkɔrt/
translation icon : diagonal
  • During the game, she skillfully executed a cross-court shot that completely caught her rival off guard.

Examples

  • In the final match, he won the point with a powerful cross-court backhand that left his opponent scrambling.

  • Should she try and pass Serena down the line or should she try and hit the cross court volley across cross court passing shot?

  • Also, especially during key moments, his game is pretty predictable, as the opponent can easily read, for instance, that he will almost always hit his backhand cross-court rather than surprising him with one down the line.

    Blog text (26)

  • Three times in that game he earned break points from deuce; three times he was thwarted—including a sublime and ridiculous cross-court forehand that kissed the line on its way through.

    Blog text (12)

  • The coach emphasized the importance of using a cross-court strategy to exploit the opponent's weaknesses.

Surface Forms

cross-court positive

Morphology

cross-court = cross + court (transparent) = cross + court

Direct compound of 'cross' + 'court' meaning 'across the court/diagonally', which is straightforward for learners who know both components.

Etymology

Cross-court comes from the two parts cross ('across') and court ('playing area'). So a cross-court shot or move goes 'across the court at an angle', which is why it can be hard for an opponent to reach.