CROSSROADS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does crossroads mean? 

• CROSSROADS (noun)
  The noun CROSSROADS has 3 senses:

1. a community of people smaller than a village

2. a crisis situation or point in time when a critical decision must be made

3. a point where a choice must be made

  Familiarity information: CROSSROADS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CROSSROADS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A community of people smaller than a village

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

crossroads; hamlet

Hypernyms ("crossroads" is a kind of...):

community (a group of people living in a particular local area)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A crisis situation or point in time when a critical decision must be made

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

critical point; crossroads; juncture

Context example:

he must be made to realize that the company stands at a critical point

Hypernyms ("crossroads" is a kind of...):

crisis (an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crossroads"):

criticality (a critical state; especially the point at which a nuclear reaction is self-sustaining)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A point where a choice must be made

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

Freud's work stands at the crossroads between psychology and neurology

Hypernyms ("crossroads" is a kind of...):

convergence; intersection; overlap (a representation of common ground between theories or phenomena)

 Context examples 

A horseman, fantastically dressed in green and splendidly mounted, was waiting at the crossroads, and as he spurred towards us I recognised the dark, handsome face and bold black eyes of Mendoza.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Crossroads had, as he explained, been rare places for knightly spear-runnings, and in his youth it was no uncommon thing for a cavalier to abide for weeks at such a point, holding gentle debate with all comers, to his own advancement and the great honor of his lady.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)