What does crossbar mean?
A crossbar is a horizontal bar stretched between two vertical supports, serving as a structural crosspiece. Its most familiar modern use is in sport: in football (soccer), rugby, and hockey, the crossbar is the horizontal bar joining the two goalposts, and shots that strike it — 'hitting the crossbar' — are among the most dramatic near-misses in the game. The word also appears in everyday hardware and design contexts, describing any transverse bar set across an opening or frame, from gates to window frames. In cycling, crossbar traditionally refers to the main horizontal tube of a classic diamond-shaped bicycle frame, though manufacturers now more often say 'top tube'. Derived transparently from 'cross' plus 'bar', the word carries no emotional connotations and is equally at home in technical manuals, match commentary, and casual conversation, making it a precise and useful term for describing how things are braced, framed, or scored against.
nounA horizontal bar that crosses or spans between two uprights, as in a goalpost structure or the crosspiece of a bicycle frame. More broadly, any transverse bar fixed across something.
- A horizontal bar between two uprights, especially in sports goals such as those in football (soccer) or rugby.
- A crosspiece in other structures, such as the top frame member of a chair or gate.
- The main horizontal frame tube of a traditional bicycle (also called the top tube).
"The striker's shot rattled off the crossbar and bounced back into play."
"Her free kick curled over the wall but struck the crossbar and bounced down onto the line."
"He swung his leg over the crossbar and pedalled off down the lane."
Standard plural; used when referring to multiple bars, e.g. on several goals or frames.
"Both goals had rusted crossbars that needed repainting before the season began."
In football, hitting the crossbar is so agonising it has its own name — fans simply call it 'off the woodwork'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crossbar
Crossbar is a straightforward English compound formed from 'cross' (from Old Norse 'kross', ultimately from Latin 'crux') and 'bar' (from Old French 'barre'). It arose through ordinary compounding to name a bar laid across something, with usage established well before the modern era and reinforced by its prominence in Victorian-era codified sports. Related formations include the adjective 'crosswise' and the adverb 'across', all drawing on the same sense of transverse placement.
How crossbar is actually used
Neutral register. In North America 'crossbar' for bicycles is less common than 'top tube', though the term is understood; in British English both are used interchangeably. In sports contexts it is an everyday term with no figurative connotation.
Easily confused with crossbar
A crossbar is a horizontal bar forming part of a structure, while a crossbow is a medieval weapon that shoots bolts.