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He was pointing at Black who had crossed to the four-poster bed and sunk onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand.

Cross means "going across".
Now a room has four sides, what would be across.
I mean, if he simply walked along in a straight line, why not "walked to the four-poster bed"?
Across has to mean something?
Maybe it imply the position with the four sides of walls.

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    across... from one side to the other opposite side.
    – user 66974
    Sep 29, 2021 at 8:23
  • Though what is the difference between "go along"and "go across" here? Sep 29, 2021 at 9:36
  • Maybe it has something to do with wall sides as across -wall can't be adjacent or something? Sep 29, 2021 at 9:37
  • "go along" means to travel the length of something (or part of the length of something), generally something longer than it is wide, like a river or corridor. You wouldn't normally go along a room unless it was very long and thin like a corridor, cloister, or gallery. "go across" implies moving through a space, so often somewhere more square or circular (not long and thin), and implies you're not next to the walls all the way, hence going across a room, park, garden, town, etc. (This doesn't really answer the question, which is about "cross" as a verb, but hopefully it is useful.)
    – Stuart F
    Sep 29, 2021 at 11:48
  • He was presumably at the other side of the room, and he walked across the floor space to reach the bed. (That is, he crossed the room.) Sep 29, 2021 at 11:54

1 Answer 1

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While a dictionary definition of 'cross' as a verb might be 'go or extend across or to the other side of (an area, stretch of water, etc.).' it is commonly used idiomatically for any movement across a defined space. So I might cross to my desk even if my desk was very close by. It implies movement more than it implies movement in a particular direction or from one place to another.

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