crosshair

noun

cross·​hair ˈkrȯs-ˌher 

: a fine wire or thread in the focus of the eyepiece of an optical instrument used as a reference line in the field or for marking the instrumental axis

—used figuratively to describe someone or something being targeted as if through an aiming device having crosshairs

The tactics landed the company's top brass in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

—Houston Chronicle

Examples of crosshair in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Gratuitous presidential wars spiked, large and small, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran, with Cuba, Greenland and possibly Canada in our crosshairs. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2026

Trump has stated repeatedly that Cuba is next in his crosshairs, after his ongoing war against Iran and the overthrow in January of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. —Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026

Iran has long been in Graham's crosshairs. —ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026

La Crosse’s Big Lots was one of many caught in the chain’s bankruptcy crosshairs in September 2024. —Caden Perry, jsonline.com, 12 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1684, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for crosshair

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare

Kids Definition

cross hair

noun

: one of the very thin wires or threads in the eyepiece of an optical instrument (as a microscope) used as a reference line