cruise
verb/kruːz/
/kruːz/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they cruise | /kruːz/ /kruːz/ |
| he / she / it cruises | /ˈkruːzɪz/ /ˈkruːzɪz/ |
| past simple cruised | /kruːzd/ /kruːzd/ |
| past participle cruised | /kruːzd/ /kruːzd/ |
| -ing form cruising | /ˈkruːzɪŋ/ /ˈkruːzɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to travel in a ship or boat visiting different places, especially as a holiday
- (+ adv./prep.) They cruised down the Nile.
- cruise something We spent two weeks cruising the Bahamas.
Homophones crews | cruisecrews cruise/kruːz//kruːz/Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by waterb2- She is on holiday, cruising in the Mediterranean.
- We cruised round the Greek islands.
- cruising up and down the coast
Definitions on the go
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- [intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) (of a car, plane, etc.) to travel at a steady speed
- a light aircraft cruising at 4 000 feet
- His car has a cruising speed of 50 mph.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorryc1- The plane was cruising at 40 000 feet.
- Concorde would cruise at an altitude of 17 km.
- The car cruised along at 70 mph.
- [intransitive, transitive] (of a car, etc. or its driver) to drive along slowly, especially when you are looking at or for something
- + adv./prep. She cruised around the block looking for a parking space.
- cruise something Taxis cruised the streets, looking for fares.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorryc1- A car cruised past us in the outside lane.
- I was cruising comfortably along the main highway.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to win or achieve something easily
- The home team cruised to victory.
- [intransitive, transitive] cruise (something) (slang) to go around in public places looking for a sexual partner
Word Originmid 17th cent. (as a verb): probably from Dutch kruisen ‘to cross’, from kruis ‘cross’, from Latin crux.
Check pronunciation:
cruise