crossbar

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the horizontal bar joining the two upright posts at the top of a goal in sports such as football or rugby

   Her shot struck the crossbar and bounced back into play.

2. 2
   noun

   a horizontal bar fixed across a frame or structure, such as a window, gate, or bicycle frame

   Only the wooden crossbar remained intact after the window glass shattered.

A compound of cross + bar, continuing Middle English crose bar. Cross here has the attributive sense "lying or running across," so the word names a bar set transversely between or across other parts.

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