Definition of "cross-purposes" []

• Plural form of cross-purpose. (noun)

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• "“What happens is, sometimes at cross-purposes, you got one hand doing one thing and one hand doing the other, both trying to do the right thing but working without a good outcome,” he said."
• "Spitzer and Bruno, the scandal-plagued former Republican Senate Majority Leader, found themselves at cross-purposes from the very beginning of Spitzer's term."
• "But as we and other organizations have observed, a lack of transparency, visibility, and basic data -- not to mention the lack of a lead coordinating agency for contingency operations -- has caused or contributed to duplication, gaps, and cross-purposes, and has permitted unnecessary incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse."