To cross-examine someone is to question them closely to test whether what they have just said is true. In a court, it has an exact meaning: the lawyer for one side questions a witness called by the other side, going carefully through the story looking for gaps, contradictions and things left out. The questions are usually short and pointed, and the aim is not to learn something new but to see whether the account holds up under pressure. Outside court, English uses it for any sharp, doubting questioning, often with a note of irritation from the person on the receiving end: "Stop cross-examining me — I only went to the shop." A journalist can cross-examine a politician; a parent can cross-examine a teenager; a friend who asks too many suspicious questions can be told they are cross-examining. The formal noun is cross-examination. The word is quite formal and a little dramatic outside legal use — in ordinary talk you would more often say question closely, grill, or press someone.