0 If two or more people are at cross purposes, they do not understand each other because they are talking about different subjects without realizing this:
1 If two people or groups are at cross-purposes they do not understand each other because they have different intentions:
I will show that explicitly recognizing these different levels, and not confusing them, minimizes the risk of talking at cross purposes.
Neither claim is supportable and, taken together, they stand at cross purposes.
The current arrangement of incentives works at cross purposes to the social good.
Such a collision might introduce new incentives for a president's actions that would put the presidential regime role at cross purposes to the incumbent's political interests.
Obviously, they have got very much at cross purposes.
It seems to me that we are a little at cross purposes.
However, we may be talking at cross purposes.
All too often they seem to have been at cross purposes.
