How to pronounce cross in American English

IPA /krɔs/ Syllables 1 · krahs Stress 1st syllable

KRAHS

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Americans pronounce cross as KRAHS (/krɔs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Talk to the lawyer before you cross the border" or "I find cross-stitching to be a very meditative hobby" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "cross".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

ah/ɑ/

Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "cross" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Cross-border cooperation has improved security significantly."

KRAHS BOR·der koh·ah·puh·RAY·shuhn huhz uhm·PROOVD suh·KYUUR·uh·dee suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt·lee

"I find cross-stitching to be a very meditative hobby."

ahy FAHYND KRAHS STIH·chuhng tuh bee uh VEH·ree MEH·duh·tay·tuhv HAH·bee

"She was cross-examined by the opposing counsel aggressively."

shee wuhz KRAHS uhg·ZA·muhnd bahy dhee uh·POH·zuhng KOWN·suhl uh·GREH·suhv·lee

"Talk to the lawyer before you cross the border."

TAHK tuh dhuh LAH·yer buh·FOR yoo KRAHS dhuh BOR·der

"The cross-functional team has made remarkable progress this month."

dhuh KRAHS FUHNGK·shuh·nuhl TEEM huhz MAYD ruh·MAR·kuh·buhl PRAH·gruhs dhihs muhnth

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "cross" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "KRAHS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.