crosshairs

noun/ˈkrɔsˌhɛrz/

Frequency rank: #17,085 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

the target of focused attention, scrutiny, or attack; originally the intersecting lines in an optical sight used for aiming.

Illustration for the English word “crosshairs”

Example sentence

The detective knew the suspect was in the crosshairs of the investigation.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 17,001–17,100