What Does Cross Out Mean?
Cross out means to draw a line through a word or a number, usually because it is wrong.
Here is the odd part. After you cross a word out, you can still read it. The mistake does not disappear. It just gets a line through its middle, like a very small fence.
Mia crossed out the wrong answer and wrote the right one next to it.
Please cross the old date out and write the new one.
🗣️ Natural Examples
Leo crossed out his first answer and tried again.
I crossed the misspelt word out with a red pen.
The teacher said, "Don't cross it out too hard, or I can't see what you wrote."
Zoe crossed out a whole line, then smiled and crossed it out again, just to be sure.
If you make a mistake in your notebook, cross it out and keep going.
✂️ Can You Separate It?
Yes. It is separable. The thing you cross out can sit in the middle, or after out.
With a noun, both places are fine.
✅ Cross out the wrong word.
✅ Cross the wrong word out.
With it, them, her, him, the small word goes at the end.
✅ Cross it out.
✅ Cross them out.
❌ Cross out it.
❌ Cross out them.
🛠️ How to Use It
- Past tense: crossed out. Past participle: crossed out. The wrong date has been crossed out.
- What you cross out: a word, a number, a line, an answer. Cross out the third line.
- A longer version: you may also see cross through. Cross through the mistake. It means the same, but cross out is more common.
- A crossed-out word as a describing word: you can write it with a hyphen before a noun. A crossed-out answer.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
A pronoun belongs in the middle.
❌ Please cross out it.
✅ Please cross it out.
A mistake is crossed out, but a name on a list is crossed off. The two small words are not twins.
✅ Cross out the wrong answer.
✅ Cross Sam's name off the list. (He is not coming.)
Mum: Why is your whole page crossed out?
Leo: I made a mistake.
Mum: Just one?
Leo: Yes. Then I made a mistake while crossing it out.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Picture the line. When you cross out a word, the line goes through the word and the word stays where it is. When you cross off a name, the name is off the list, because nobody needs it any more.
Mistake in a sentence? Out. Name or item on a list? Off.
👯 Similar Expressions
- cross off: to draw a line through a name or an item on a list because it is no longer needed. We can cross his name off. He's not coming.
- Fill In, Fill Out, Fill Up: another small-word puzzle, this time for forms.
- rub out or erase: plain ways to make a mistake disappear completely.