Cross

Forms: Cross, Across, Crossed, Crosses, Crossing, Crosstree

Related Topics: Religion, Catholicism, Travel, Movement

Explication:

The most common form of “Cross” in Ulysses is “across” which denotes movement from one side to another or a position in relation to another position. Joyce uses this word 64 times throughout Ulysses to express movement or a certain positionality, “A point, live dog, grew into sight running across the sweep of sand,” (U. 3. 294). This is a straightforward usage of the word although it has the ability to retain the Christian imagery of the cross.

Another common form of cross is “crossed” which is the past participle of cross. Crossed is used in multiple ways throughout Ulysses, one of which being the physical act of past movement from one position to another, “He crossed at Nassau street corner,” (U. 8. 551). Crossed can also indicate the act of crossing oneself in a religious manner, “Father Conmee read in secret Pater and Ave and crossed his breast,” (U. 10. 193). This form of cross is unique in that both meanings can be used simultaneously creating a double-entendre. This is important to note as Joyce occasionally employs this word to produce ambiguity in the meaning. In conjunction, cross as the concept of movement and cross as a religious symbol can imply the movement of religion. Leopold Bloom struggles with his Jewish identity in the face of Irish Catholicism which acts in alienating Bloom.

Some other forms of cross used by Joyce include Cross and Crossing. The OED cites Cross as having a few different variations and an ability to occupy multiple parts of speech. Cross is both a verb which means to move from one position to another and a noun which incorporates Christian themes as Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross, “Mr Bloom walked unheeded along his grove by saddened angels, crosses, broken pillars, family vaults, stone hopes praying with upcast eyes, old Ireland’s hearts and hands,” (6, 928-930). This is a relevant definition for Ulysses which draws heavily on Catholicism and religion. Cross can also be used to express anger or an opposition. Stephen crosses his mother’s dying wish by failing to execute religious acts, “You crossed her last wish in death,” (1, 212).

Definition and Examples

Noun

1. A kind of gibbet used by the ancients (and in later times by some non-Christian nations); a stake, generally with a transverse bar, on which they put to a cruel and ignominious death certain criminals, who were nailed or otherwise fastened to it by their extremities.

“Mr Bloom walked unheeded along his grove by saddened angels, crosses, broken pillars, family vaults, stone hopes praying with upcast eyes, old Ireland’s hearts and hands,” (6, 928-930).

2. The sign of the cross made with the right hand, as a religious act. Cf. sign of the crossat sign Phrases 1.
3. A representation or delineation of a cross on any surface, varying in elaborateness from two lines crossing each other to an ornamental design painted, embroidered, carved, etc.; used as a sacred mark, symbol, badge, or the like.

“Moving through the air high spars of a threemaster, her sails brailed up on the crosstrees, homing, upstream, silently moving, a silent ship,” (3, 503-505).

Adjective

1. Lying or situated athwart the main direction; transverse; passing from side to side. Also saidof things to which spatial relations are transferred.

“He turned away and sauntered across the road,” (5, 47).

2. Passing or lying athwart each other; crossing, intersecting.

“Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed,” (1, 1-2).

3. Diagonally opposite in position (as in a quadrilateral). rare. Cf. cross-corner n.

“Two crossed keys here,” (7, 142).

4. Contrary, opposite, opposed (toeach other, or tosomething specified). (Now rarely predicative.)
5. Of events, circumstances, or fortune: Adverse, opposing, thwarting; contrary to one’s desire or liking; unfavourable, untoward.

“And temper getting cross,” (6, 745-746).

Verb

1. To crucify. Obs.
2. To make the sign of the cross upon or over.

“Buck Mulligan made way for him to scramble past and, glancing at Haines and Stephen, crossed himself piously with his thumbnail at brow and lips and breastbone,” (1, 692-694).

3. To mark with a cross in sign of a vow; of the vow to wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens; = croise v.2. Obs.

“All crossed themselves and stood up,” (5, 414).

4. To pass over a line, boundary, river, channel, etc.; to pass from one side to the other of any space.

“He turned northeast and crossed the firmer sand towards the Pigeonhouse,” (3, 159-160).

5. To thwart, oppose, go counter to.

“You crossed her last wish in death and yet you sulk with me because I don’t whinge like some hired mute from Lalouette’s,” (1, 212-214).

Mara, Miriam O’Kane. “James Joyce and the Politics of Food.” New Hibernia Review, vol. 13, no. 4, 2009, pp. 94-110, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/365718/pdf. Accessed November 21, 2016.

Related Topics:

Colonization

Gender

Consumption

Link to citation page: http://grinnellcollege.worldcat.org/title/james-joyce-and-the-politics-of-food/oclc/615182453&referer=brief_results

Link to Full Text: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/365718/pdf

Miriam O’Kane Mara illustrates the way in which gender, colonization, and identity inform an individual’s consumption throughout James Joyce’s career in her article, “James Joyce and the Politics of Food.” Mara argues that throughout Joyce’s work there are characters who “who restrict their food intake in particular social and political situations,” therefore creating “complicated connections between food, politics, and gender in Ireland,” (94). The article begins with the historical context of Irish food refusal. Mara states that food refusal is an Irish tradition used as a form of political speech. This tradition arose during the Irish famine in which Ireland suffered both extreme food shortages and an exportation of existing food into England. This made the famine into a symbol of English oppression which politicized Irish eating behavior and made food a stronger marker of identity.

Mara begins her textual analysis with an examination of the Christmas dinner table in “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” Gender informs the consumption habits of individuals at the table during moments of contention. During a conversation on nationalism and Catholicism, the male characters favor nationalism at the expense of faith which the female characters are largely opposed to. The women refrain from eating as a form of protest in order gain access to power and a voice. Mara includes a number of citation from “A Portrait” to provide examples of male consumption and the concurrent prevention of female consumption.

Next, Mara focuses on Stephen Dedalus in “Ulysses” to redraw the axis of gender, political orientation, and consumption. Stephen serves as a “feminized colonial subject” who attempts to build a new identity aligned with the mind and spirit rather than the body (100). He is contrasted with the “plump” Buck Mulligan who represents the “colonized body politic,” which Stephen wishes to escape (101). Stephen fears his own confusion about his gender identity and attempts to shutout outside forces. On such force that Mara views as paramount is food which Stephen thinks poses a threat to his identity. Mara claims that Stephen has discomfort in having a body which he counters by attempting to “deny and shrink corporeal presence,” (104). This results in a strict control of eating in which Stephen goes so far as to refute the ingestion of solid foods.

Related References:

Brivic, Sheldon. Joyce Between Freud and Jung. London: Kennikat Press, 1980.

Cheng, Vincent. Joyce, Race, and Empire. Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Dwyer, June. “Feast and Famine: James Joyce and the Politics of Food.” Proteus: A Journal of Ideas 17(1) (2001), pp 43.

Nandy, Ashis. The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Ulysses captures the events of one day, June 16^th 1904, and does well to fully observe even the simplest of everyday functions. Joyce includes all aspects of eating, digestion, and defecation in Ulysses to provide an honest portrayal of life in Dublin. In his effort to describe the essence of the human experience, Joyce identifies the importance of these processes to the human experience. Food is an aspect of life that is shared by all- eating is necessary for survival. However, food is not only sustenance, food is also taste, preference, or potentially governable. In this sense, food is uniquely diverse in its ability to both create and level distinctions between people. Groups of people eat differently and one can use food to identify characteristics about a person based on what they eat. There are foods which can be designated as belonging to different groups- poor, wealthy, Irish, Jewish, etc. This makes food a useful tool in the construction of identity. Despite the infrequency in appearance, food plays a prominent role in Ulysses through its ability to serve as a marker for the identity of characters while simultaneously making these characters’ identities prominent through their individual relationships with food.

Joyce’s inclusion of food provides a mode to discuss Ireland’s colonial relationship to England through a system of exportation and tariffs levied on Irish-cultivated food. Throughout the Irish famine of 1846-1851, England continued to export food from Ireland which left the Irish people without food for themselves. Food was literally being taken from a country in a time of famine to feed the more powerful and wealthy English state while the Irish peasant starved. This relationship is realized in Episode 16 and facilitated by Skin-the-Goat’s comments on Ireland’s exportation of, “coal in large quantities, six million pounds of pork exported every year, ten millions between butter and eggs,” (16, 989-991). Food is used as a marker of natural prosperity. However, this prosperity is lost to the British who levy taxes on the poor. In this instance food serves as a symbol of British colonial rule and the pillaging of the poor by way of taxes. Joyce uses food to undermine geo-political and colonial relationships between colonized and colonizer.

The implications of England’s colonial pillaging of Irish food sources are seen in the descriptions of the Dedalus family. The Dedalus family is poor and are described on multiple occasions by what they eat or are presumed to eat. In this instance, like many others in Ulysses, food is a marker of identity. The Dedalus family are relegated to certain foods by way of economic necessity. They are not afforded the luxury of choice. In fact, their food is defined by its cost and by its cultural relevancy. Whereas a character like Leopold Bloom eats Kosher foods, the Dedalus family are strictly Irish-Catholic and eat as such. Stephen Dedalus muses on the memory of his family eating various foods including “cocoa that was in the sootcoated kettle,” oatmeal water, herring, an egg, and eggshells and charred fish heads for the cat, (16, 271-276). The food described is all very cheap and native to Ireland. This description therefore illustrates the Dedalus’ state of poverty and Catholic identity.

Bloom is perhaps the most interesting character in terms of relating to food. Bloom is initially introduced to the reader while he is eating, “Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls,” (4, 1-2). Leopold Bloom is distinctly different from the other characters in the book, oftentimes holding an “othered” identity. Bloom is not accepted as truly Irish because of his Jewishness and is not fully Jewish because he does not strictly observe Kosher laws, thereby leaving him in a state in which he lacks a firm identity. We are confronted with Bloom’s distance from Judaism and devotion to Kosher as he thinks of kidneys while often alluding to pork, both of which are not kosher. Bloom’s choice of food aids the reader in locating Bloom’s identity or in this case, his lack of identity.

Joyce’s deployment of food as a marker of identity is not only self-defined but is also ascribed to groups of people, revealing assumptions made on that group by the individual ascribing. In Episode 16, the sailor brings up a fictitious story about Peruvians that he claims to have encountered who eat “corpses and the liver of horses,” (16, 470-471). Since the sailor has already been labeled as a fraud by Stephen and Leopold, his story should not be taken seriously. Regardless, the sailor’s choice of food to pair with the Peruvians reveals a sort of xenophobia. Clearly, ascribing cannibalism and the consumption of horse meat to a group as broad as “Peruvians” is derogatory and meant to express a mysterious disgust with the alleged backwardness of the act of human consumption. The sailor’s claim about the food of the Peruvians reveals the sailor’s identity as xenophobic and untruthful. Joyce allows the reader to extract more from his characters based on their relationships to food.

Joyce attempts to capture the mundane and the bodily to accurately represent the human experience in all forms. The general ubiquity of food provides an interesting point of departure for Joyce. Despite foods necessity to life, food is incredibly diverse and unique, allowing it to serve as a marker of identity for characters. Joyce’s use of food has enabled him to an alternative way of developing character and bringing his character’s identities into prominence by way of the character’s relationships with food.

Cross

Forms: Cross, Across, Crossed, Crosses, Crossing

Explication:

The most common form of “Cross” in Ulysses is “across” which denotes movement from one side to another or a position in relation to another position. Joyce uses this word 64 times throughout Ulysses to express movement or a certain positionality, “A point, live dog, grew into sight running across the sweep of sand,” (U. 3. 294). This is a fairly straightforward usage of the word although it has the ability to retain the Christian imagery of the cross.

Another common form of cross is “crossed” which is the past participle of cross. Crossed is used in multiple ways throughout Ulysses, one of which being the physical act of past movement from one position to another, “He crossed at Nassau street corner,” (U. 8. 551). Crossed can also indicate the act of crossing oneself in a religious manner, “Father Conmee read in secret Pater and Ave and crossed his breast,” (U. 10. 193). This form of cross is unique in that both meanings can be used simultaneously creating a double-entendre. This is important to note as Joyce occasionally employs this word to produce ambiguity in the meaning of the word. In conjunction, cross as the concept of movement and cross as a religious symbol can imply the movement of religion. Leopold Bloom struggles with his Jewish identity in the face of Irish Catholicism which acts in alienating Bloom.

Some other forms of cross used by Joyce include Cross and Crossing. The OED cites Cross as having a few different variations and an ability to occupy multiple parts of speech. Cross is both a verb which means to move from one position to another and a noun which incorporates Christian themes as Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross. This is a relevant definition for Ulysses which draws heavily on Catholicism and religion.

Noun

1. A kind of gibbet used by the ancients (and in later times by some non-Christian nations); a stake, generally with a transverse bar, on which they put to a cruel and ignominious death certain criminals, who were nailed or otherwise fastened to it by their extremities
2. The particular wooden structure on which Jesus Christ suffered death, believed to have consisted of an upright post, with a horizontal crossbar; the holy rood. (Often written with capital C.)
3. The sign of the cross made with the right hand, as a religious act. Cf. sign of the crossat signn. Phrases 1.
4. A representation or delineation of a cross on any surface, varying in elaborateness from two lines crossing each other to an ornamental design painted, embroidered, carved, etc.; used as a sacred mark, symbol, badge, or the like.

Adjective

1. Lying or situated athwart the main direction; transverse; passing from side to side. Also saidfig.of things to which spatial relations are transferred.
2. Passing or lying athwart each other; crossing, intersecting.
3. Diagonally opposite in position (as in a quadrilateral). Obs.rare. Cf. cross-corner n.
4. Contrary, opposite, opposed (toeach other, or to something specified). (Now rarely predicative.)
5. Of events, circumstances, or fortune: Adverse, opposing, thwarting; contrary to one’s desire or liking; unfavourable, untoward.

Verb

1. trans.To crucify. Obs.
2. To make the sign of the cross upon or over.
3. To mark with a cross in sign of a vow; esp.of the vow to wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens; = croise v. 2. Obs.
4. To cancel by marking with a cross or by drawing lines across; to strike out, erase. (lit.andfig.) Const. off, out.

Related Topics:

Religion, Catholicism, Leopold Bloom, Travel, Movement

Eumaeus was a particularly interesting chapter for me because it featured food and cooking more prominently than in previous chapters. There are numerous references to food which have a symbolic meaning.

The first reference occurs when Leopold Bloom smells bread baking in James Rourke’s bakery. The bread is described as “our daily bread, of all commodities of the public the primary and most indespensable,” (16, 57-58). While the importance of bread in Irish life is stressed, there is also a religious undertone as seen in “our daily bread.” Bread is what people eat at communion and represents the very body of Jesus Christ to Catholics. The line, “earn your bread,” appears to be a call to piousness (16, 58).

Later, Stephen Dedalus muses on the memory of his family eating various foods including “cocoa that was in the sootcoated kettle,” oatmeal water, herring, an egg, and eggshells and charred fish heads for the cat, (16, 271-276). The food described is used to illustrate the Dedalus’ state of poverty. One can roughly tell someone’s relative wealth by the food that they eat.

The sailor brings up a fictitious story about Peruvians that he claims to have encountered who eat “corpses and the liver of horses,” (16, 470-471). Since the sailor has already been labeled as a fraud by Stephen and Leopold, his story should not be taken seriously. Regardless, the sailor’s choice of food to pair with the Peruvians reveals a sort of racism. There is no evidence to support his claim that he saw Peruvians eat corpses and the liver of horses. Even if this was true, the reader would likely take it as false because of the sailor’s unreliable nature.

A particularly interesting and peculiar way of talking about food occurs during the discussion of solid foods vs. liquid foods. The argument is made that regular meals of solid food are essential for proper work both mental and manual. Stephen is then urged to eat more solid foods because it will make him feel a different man. This seems to be a pretty logical argument, but Stephen, perhaps jokingly, says “liquids I can eat,” (16, 815).

A man known as Skin-the-Goat proclaims that Ireland is the richest country on the earth based on natural resources. He cites Ireland’s exportation of “coal in large quantities, six millions pounds of pork exported every year, ten millions between butter and eggs,” (16, 989-991). Food is used as a marker of natural prosperity. However, this prosperity is lost to the British who levy taxes on the poor. In this instance food serves as a symbol of British colonial rule and the pillaging of the poor by way of taxes. Of course this is only the view of Skin-the -Goat and might not be shared by Joyce. It is fitting that the Dedalus family was previously described by the foods they ate which reveals how the poor Irish cannot even afford their own exports having to “pay through the nose,” (16, 992).

Circe was an interesting chapter due to its playlike structure and the deployment of hallucinatory scenes from Bloom. The hallucinations reflect various anxieties and desires that we have seen Bloom to have throughout the day. Similar to most of the chapters, food and cooking was referenced sparsely but not prominently.

Much of Circe does not remain constant throughout the chapters, characters move in and out constantly while Bloom goes through many different outfits. Bloom has a pig’s foot in his pocket throughout Circe which, along with the dog, ground the chapter by providing something constant.

One particular instance that i believed to feature food in a significant way was when Molly was eating a spiced beef sandwich (15, 564-565). Spiced beef elicits a masculine image which gives Molly- who is eating the spiced beef sandwich- a more masculine appearance. This serves in continuing Molly’s image as someone whose body is distinctly different from the slender figure of Gerty’s, while questioning the construction of femininity. Perhaps it could also be taken as a crass joke.

Bloom’s potato is also of interest as it appears twice throughout Circe. Initially a prostitute takes it out of his pocket. She later takes it out of her stocking. Bloom later reveals that the potato is of sentimental value claiming it as “a relic of poor mama” (15, 3513). It is interesting how the potato is seemingly sexualized while also relating to Bloom’s mother.

During Bloom’s hallucination involving him adopting a quasi Jesus identity, food appears as a measure of prosperity. This hallucination has a joyous tone; a baby is described as having milk flowing out of it’s mouth and later Bloom is offered a radish as praise. In this hallucination, food is used  as an object given to denote thanks as well as denoting prosperity.

Food appears more substantively in Circe than in other chapters. I found this to be a very engaging chapter.

Circe was an interesting chapter due to its play-like structure and the deployment of hallucinatory scenes from Bloom. Similar to most of the chapters, food and cooking was referenced sparsely but not prominently.

One particular instance that i believed to feature food in a significant way was when Molly was eating a spiced beef sandwich (15, 564-565). Spiced beef elicits a masculine image which gives Molly- who is eating the spiced beef sandwich- a more masculine appearance. This serves in continuing Molly’s image as someone whose body is distinctly different from the slender figure of Gerty’s, while questioning the construction of femininity. Perhaps it could also be taken as a crass joke.

Bloom’s potato is also of interest as it appears twice throughout Circe. Initially a prostitute takes it out of his pocket. She later takes it out of her stocking. Bloom later reveals that the potato is of sentimental value claiming it as “a relic of poor mama” (15, 3513). It is interesting how the potato is seemingly sexualized while also relating to Bloom’s mother.

During Bloom’s hallucination involving him adopting a quasi Jesus identity, food appears as a measure of prosperity. This hallucination has a joyous tone; a baby is described as having milk flowing out of it’s mouth and later Bloom is offered a radish as praise. In this hallucination, food is used  as an object given to denote thanks as well as denoting prosperity.

Cross

Forms: Cross, Across, Crossed, Crosses, Crossing

Explication:

The most common form of “Cross” in Ulysses is “across” which denotes movement from one side to another or a position in relation to another position. Joyce uses this word 64 times throughout Ulysses to express movement or a certain positionality, “A point, live dog, grew into sight running across the sweep of sand,” (U. 3. 294). This is a fairly straightforward usage of the word although it has the ability to retain the Christian imagery of the cross.

Another common form of cross is “crossed” which is the past participle of cross. Crossed is used in multiple ways throughout Ulysses, one of which being the physical act of past movement from one position to another, “He crossed at Nassau street corner,” (U. 8. 551). Crossed can also indicate the act of crossing oneself in a religious manner, “Father Conmee read in secret Pater and Ave and crossed his breast,” (U. 10. 193). This form of cross is unique in that both meanings can be used simultaneously creating a double-entendre. This is important to note as Joyce occasionally employs this word to produce ambiguity in the meaning of the word.

Some other forms of cross used by Joyce include Cross and Crossing. The OED cites Cross as having a few different variations and an ability to occupy multiple parts of speech. Cross is both a verb which means to move from one position to another and a noun which incorporates Christian themes as Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross. This is a relevant definition for Ulysses which draws heavily on Catholicism and religion.

Noun

1. A kind of gibbet used by the ancients (and in later times by some non-Christian nations); a stake, generally with a transverse bar, on which they put to a cruel and ignominious death certain criminals, who were nailed or otherwise fastened to it by their extremities
2. The particular wooden structure on which Jesus Christ suffered death, believed to have consisted of an upright post, with a horizontal crossbar; the holy rood. (Often written with capital C.)
3. The sign of the cross made with the right hand, as a religious act. Cf. sign of the crossat signn. Phrases 1.
4. A representation or delineation of a cross on any surface, varying in elaborateness from two lines crossing each other to an ornamental design painted, embroidered, carved, etc.; used as a sacred mark, symbol, badge, or the like.

Adjective

1. Lying or situated athwart the main direction; transverse; passing from side to side. Also saidfig.of things to which spatial relations are transferred.
2. Passing or lying athwart each other; crossing, intersecting.
3. Diagonally opposite in position (as in a quadrilateral). Obs.rare. Cf. cross-corner n.
4. Contrary, opposite, opposed (toeach other, or to something specified). (Now rarely predicative.)
5. Of events, circumstances, or fortune: Adverse, opposing, thwarting; contrary to one’s desire or liking; unfavourable, untoward.

Verb

1. trans.To crucify. Obs.
2. To make the sign of the cross upon or over.
3. To mark with a cross in sign of a vow; esp.of the vow to wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens; = croise v. 2. Obs.
4. To cancel by marking with a cross or by drawing lines across; to strike out, erase. (lit.andfig.) Const. off, out.

Food does not feature prominently in chapters 11 and 12 although there are mentions of it. In chapter 11, Leopold Bloom and other characters attend diner together and eat a variety of foods including liverslices, steak, kidney, and roe. Joyce repeats the phrase, “he ate with relish the inner organs,” eliciting memories of chapter 4. Pat, Leopold, Goulding, Collis, and Ward all eat together in silence, focusing on their consumption rather than camaraderie.

Chapter 12 includes a fantastical hyperbole of Dublin which includes a lengthy portion on the variety of fish available. The desirable nature of the fantasy seems to be, at least partially, a product of the food involved. The food is described in great variety which indicates fruitfulness. Joyce then lists various fruits and vegetables which are described as plentiful and ripe. The food is not only plentiful, but largely foreign to Ireland too, expressing a sense of luxury and delicacy. The fruits and vegetables act in progressing the Dublin fantasy, with the strawberries described as, “fit for princes,” (Joyce 242).

The OED cites Cross as having a few different variations and an ability to occupy multiple parts of speech. The most common definition is a wooden structure used for crucifixion which is a very relevant definition in Ulysses.

Noun

1. A kind of gibbet used by the ancients (and in later times by some non-Christian nations); a stake, generally with a transverse bar, on which they put to a cruel and ignominious death certain criminals, who were nailed or otherwise fastened to it by their extremities

2.     The particular wooden structure on which Jesus Christ suffered death, believed to have consisted of an upright post, with a horizontal crossbar; the holy rood. (Often written with capital C.)

3.     The sign of the cross made with the right hand, as a religious act. Cf. sign of the cross at signn. Phrases 1.

4.    A representation or delineation of a cross on any surface, varying in elaborateness from two lines crossing each other to an ornamental design painted, embroidered, carved, etc.; used as a sacred mark, symbol, badge, or the like.

Adjective

1.       Lying or situated athwart the main direction; transverse; passing from side to side. Also saidfig. of things to which spatial relations are transferred.

2.      Passing or lying athwart each other; crossing, intersecting.

3.      Diagonally opposite in position (as in a quadrilateral). Obs. rare. Cf. cross-corner n.

4.      Contrary, opposite, opposed (to each other, or to something specified). (Now rarely predicative.)

5.      Of events, circumstances, or fortune: Adverse, opposing, thwarting; contrary to one’s desire or liking; unfavourable, untoward.

Verb

1.       trans. To crucify. Obs.

2.      To make the sign of the cross upon or over.

3.      To mark with a cross in sign of a vow; esp. of the vow to wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens; = croise v. 2. Obs.

4.      To cancel by marking with a cross or by drawing lines across; to strike out, erase. (lit. andfig.) Const. off, out.