We skirted around the field and crossed the bridge

[Peter Jiong]

We skirted around the field and crossed the bridge.

Does "cross" mean "actually walked on the bridge and went through it" or "went around by the side"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Crossing a bridge is the act of using the bridge as it was intended. To get from one side of something to the other.

 

[Skrej]

If you didn't actually use the bridge, then you couldn't have crossed it. You'd have crossed the stream or whatever the bridge spanned, not the bridge itself.

You're talking about skirting the bridge, not the field.