The Collaborative International Dictionary
To go across the country
Across \A*cross"\ (#; 115), prep. [Pref. a- + cross: cf. F. en
croix. See Cross, n.]
From side to side; athwart; crosswise, or in a direction
opposed to the length; quite over; as, a bridge laid across a
river.
--Dryden.
To come across, to come upon or meet incidentally.
--Freeman.
To go across the country, to go by a direct course across a region without following the roads.