Meaning & use
intersect
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To cross one another at a point, as lines or roads do.
Grammar: No object when two things cross each other: the lines intersect. With an object: the road intersects the highway.
Patterns
- intersect with something
- intersect something
- something and something intersect
The two roads intersect near the old bridge.
Main Street intersects the highway just past the mall.
On the graph, the lines intersect at the point (2, 3).
verbtransitiveformal
To divide something by passing through it or crossing it.
Grammar: Takes an object: a canal intersects the field.
Patterns
- intersect something
Several streams intersect the plain, making the soil rich.
A narrow path intersects the garden from east to west.
verbintransitivefigurative
To overlap or meet, as ideas, interests, or fields of life do.
Grammar: Often followed by with: art intersects with technology.
Patterns
- intersect with something
Our research interests intersect in the study of language.
Her career as a nurse intersected with her love of writing.
Where politics and religion intersect, debates grow heated.
Word forms
| third person singular | intersects |
|---|---|
| past tense | intersected |
| past participle | intersected |
| -ing form | intersecting |
Common combinations
- lines intersect
- Two lines intersect at exactly one point unless they are parallel.
- intersect at a point
- The three paths intersect at a point in the forest.
- roads intersect
- The two roads intersect at a busy crossing.
- intersect with
- Race and class often intersect with gender in research on inequality.
- intersect at right angles
- The two streets intersect at right angles.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cross
- Cross is the everyday word and may mean going over something, whereas intersect stresses the exact meeting point.
- meet
- Meet is general and can suggest touching without crossing, whereas intersect means actually cutting across.
- overlap
- Overlap suggests partial sharing of space or content, whereas intersect often means crossing at a point or line.
- bisect
- Bisect means to cut something exactly in half, which is more specific than intersect.
Opposites
Word family
- intersection noun
- a place where roads cross, or the point where lines meet
- intersecting adjective
- crossing each other
- intersectional adjective
- relating to overlapping social categories such as race and gender
- intersectionality noun
- the study of overlapping identities and the forms of disadvantage they bring
Commonly confused: intersect or interact? intersect or intercept?
intersect vs interact
Interact means to act on or communicate with each other, while intersect means to cross or overlap.
intersect vs intercept
Intercept means to stop or catch something on its way, such as a pass or a message.
Practice
The two streets ____ at the town center, forming a busy crossroads.
Choose one answer.
Intersect means to cross at a point, which describes streets forming a crossroads. Interact, intercept, and interfere do not describe roads crossing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intersect”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.