Cross bills

CROSS BILLS, practice. When an individual prosecutes a bill of indictment against another, and the defendant procures another bill to be found against the first prosecutor, the bills so found by the grand jury are called cross bills. The most usually occur in cases of assault and battery.
    2. In chancery practice it is not unusual for parties to file cross bills. Vide Bill, cross.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.