"across" means to, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest). It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
across
To, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
Seen in the wild
14 citations · last seen May 2026
Seen in the wild
BlueskyMay 2026
I'm sorry, did the graph you chose to use of a single indicator not really reflect broader economic trends across the period?
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BlueskyMay 2026
Amazon to invest €15bn in France in largest-ever country commitment https://www.europesays.com/france/12036/ The company has channelled more than €30bn into the country since 2010 across logistics, technology, and o…
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BlueskyMay 2026
Less great was the hospital signage. OK, Imaging is more than X-rays, but please be consistent across physical signs, texts and letters. Same goes for Podiatry… found in the Fracture Clinic. Doesn’t appear in the h…
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BlueskyMay 2026
Good advice - just remember that there aren’t elections across the entire country, so do be sure to check in advice there is a vote in your area before you grab anyone in a desperate electoral plea.
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BlueskyMay 2026
SBOMscanner 0.11.0 is out 🎉! An MCP server so your AI assistant can query CVEs across registries and workloads, targeted ScanJobs, zizmor-hardened CI, and storage race fixes. www.kubewarden.io/blog/2026/05...
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Definitions
US
#1·Apr 27, 2026US
To, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
We rowed across the river.
Origin: From , from early , a-creoyz, from + in the form of a cross. More at cross.. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents
"across" means to, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest). It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
For ESL learners
"across" is informal English meaning to, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest). It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "to" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "across" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing. If you are a B2 or C1 learner, it is useful to recognise this word when you hear or read it, but think carefully about whether the situation really calls for it before using it yourself.
Heard in the wild
“I'm sorry, did the graph you chose to use of a single indicator not really reflect broader economic trends across the period?”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Amazon to invest €15bn in France in largest-ever country commitment https://www.europesays.com/france/12036/ The company has channelled more than €30bn into the country since 2010 across logistics, technology, and operations. Credit:…”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Less great was the hospital signage. OK, Imaging is more than X-rays, but please be consistent across physical signs, texts and letters. Same goes for Podiatry… found in the Fracture Clinic. Doesn’t appear in the hospital departments and units navigator list.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Good advice - just remember that there aren’t elections across the entire country, so do be sure to check in advice there is a vote in your area before you grab anyone in a desperate electoral plea.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“SBOMscanner 0.11.0 is out 🎉! An MCP server so your AI assistant can query CVEs across registries and workloads, targeted ScanJobs, zizmor-hardened CI, and storage race fixes. www.kubewarden.io/blog/2026/05...”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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US
#2·Apr 27, 2026US
On the opposite side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
Fortunately, there was a bridge across the river.
Heard in the wild
“I'm currently giving away a code for Trickster in Dead By Daylight across all platforms! Want to pick this killer up? Join the Discord for a chance to win! discord.gg/BkGsSJUU54”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Morning, all! @alan678.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #Dappled, any birds with dapples on their plumage. The alt is #LowFlying. A lone Spotted Redshank, from May 2025, resting after its journey across the sea from Africa. Photo by Mike Childs, south Crete.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Word of the day: Acedia I must say, I haven’t come across this one before written or spoken”
— r/etymology· Apr 2026“had never come across this one before today!”
— r/words· Apr 2026“What is going on with Chappell Roan? Came across this reddit post today and have no idea what happened. Anyone care to fill me in? https://www.reddit.com/r/popculturechat/s/DcLRq1HIN0”
— r/OutOfTheLoop· Mar 2026
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US
#3·Apr 27, 2026US
(Southern US, AAVE) across from: on the opposite side, relative to something that lies between, from (a point of interest).
He came across the street to meet me.
Heard in the wild
“Think I’ve checked off everything on my graduation checklist. Now just ready to walk across that stage.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Coordinated upside across the board. BTC's 2.51% outperformance relative to alts (1.2-1.65%) suggests a risk-on tone rather than broad rotation. Clean movement worth monitoring.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Important research area. The semi-supervised approach is well-suited given the scarcity of labeled illicit transactions in crypto. Ensemble methods could improve generalization across DeFi protocols. Key validation point: performance against novel attack vectors that emerge po...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“youtu.be/w5bRkI_OXy0?... DOJ lawyers LIED to the courts re: Southern Poverty Law case. LIED across the board. Throw yourself on the mercies of the courts. You're going to be disbarred.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“I'm from across the pond. We're feeding”
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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US
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Other words near "across" (A)
acoustic pilledAC Plonkacquaintacquihireacquireacre footACSMActaeonactionaction arcaction checkaction coded
Browse all slang words starting with A.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- get across81%
(transitive, intransitive) To cross; to move from one side (of something) to the other, literally or figuratively.
- get across73%
(transitive) To make an idea evident; to successfully explain a thought or feeling; put over.
- cross-channel71%
That travels across a channel of water; relating to somewhere on the opposite side of the channel.