Definition
A wind that blows across the path of an aircraft, with a component perpendicular to the direction of flight or to the runway centerline. In traffic pattern usage, it also refers to the leg flown at right angles to the departure end of the runway.
Plain English
A wind blowing sideways across your direction of travel, rather than straight at you or directly behind you. The word is also used for the short pattern leg flown sideways across the end of the runway after takeoff.
Context Anchor
Commonly encountered in weather reports, takeoff and landing planning, runway selection, and pilot-controller communication.
Derivation
From 'cross' (across) and 'wind.' The word literally describes wind moving across your path rather than along it.
Why Pilots Care
Strong crosswinds demand specific control inputs to keep the aircraft aligned with the runway and can exceed aircraft or pilot limits, forcing a runway change or diversion.
Analogy
Like walking straight down a sidewalk while a strong gust keeps shoving you sideways toward the curb.
Intuition Check
Crosswind does not have to mean wind blowing exactly 90 degrees from the side. If any part of the wind is pushing across the airplane’s path, that sideways part is crosswind.
Example Sentence 1
The tower reported a 15-knot crosswind from the right, so the pilot used aileron into the wind during the landing roll.
Example Sentence 2
With a ten-knot crosswind, the instructor demonstrated wing-low technique to maintain directional control after touchdown.