Iron Cross

noun

1. a German medal awarded for outstanding bravery or service during wartime.
2. (lowercase) Gymnastics. an upright, crosslike position held between the rings, with the arms fully extended laterally and the legs held together and pointed downward.

Iron Cross

noun

1. the highest decoration for bravery awarded to the German armed forces in wartime: instituted in 1813

Word History and Origins

Origin of Iron Cross¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

That same year, a former Sheriff’s Department captain told Spectrum News about a Carson station subgroup tattoo featuring a skull, a gravestone and an Iron Cross — an image commonly associated with white supremacists.

From Los Angeles Times

Using the book as his lodestar, Nichols borrows from Lyon by turns directly, elliptically and sometimes clumsily, while making some instructive omissions: Some of the bikers wear Iron Cross patches, but if there's a Nazi swastika or Confederate flag here, emblems flaunted by some white bikers including Danny’s old Outlaw pals, I missed it.

From New York Times

As Fritz Von Erich, Jack liked to strut into the ring with an Iron Cross on his uniform and finish with his signature move, the Iron Claw, a vice grip that he applied to an opponent’s head, at times drawing blood.

From New York Times

The family do not know why Brixius had been awarded the Iron Cross but, because it was given in September 1939, it was assumed it was for action over Poland or the Sudetenland.

From BBC

But after the bodies were taken away and the granary was handed back, Mr Bufton's parents, Jack and Muriel, found the lost Iron Cross embellished with the swastika.

From BBC