sillonner

criss-cross

verb see-yoh-NEH Rare

Also means

traverse

Usage Note

Sillonner comes from sillon ('furrow') and evokes the image of cutting paths across a surface, as a plow does. It is commonly used to describe travelling extensively across a territory — sillonner la France ('to criss-cross France'). It can also describe roads or rivers that cross a landscape: des routes qui sillonnent la plaine ('roads that cross the plain').

Examples

"Ils ont sillonné l'Europe pendant un mois."

Natural Translation

They criss-crossed Europe for a month.

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