cross swords with

“The Defiant Ones” remained one of Mr. Poitier’s favorite films, but to get the part he had to cross swords with Samuel Goldwyn, who was assembling a cast for “Porgy and Bess.”

“They either had nothing to say or show on due diligence on forced labor, or they were unwilling because they won’t cross swords with Beijing,” said Bennett Freeman, a former State Department official who sent the emails to the I.O.C. on the coalition’s behalf.

At the age of 35, Ronaldo might not get too many more chances to cross swords with Messi.

While few expected Mr. López Obrador to cross swords with his American counterpart, he was at times strikingly warm and congenial toward a president who, as a candidate, famously said that Mexico was “sending” criminals and rapists across the border into the United States.

“We made the decision not to go cross swords with that group,” he recalled.