Swimmer was right on track with his notes.
I would also point out that there are also some subtle variations in this terminology where folks sometimes get a little mixed up.
What many people intend by their definitions is the maximum projected cross section area--- another way to say it is max FRONTAL area. This includes the 'pie are squared' for the body tube/nose cone (to which Swimmer referred), plus the frontal area of the fins (thickness x span x number of fins), plus the frontal area of the launch lug (if you want to get fussy), etc.
Speaking as an aerodynamicist (by training), cross-section means the area of the vehicle as measured in a mathematical plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. Cross section varies from the front of the vehicle to the tail end. This plots out graphically with the X-axis (horizontal) being vehicle length and the Y-axis (vertical) being local cross section at a given fuselage station or X-axis location.
For aircraft, we try to make the plotted area distribution increase smoothly, peak at the smallest possible value of maximum cross section, and then decrease smoothly back to zero. Obviously, there are configuration features that preclude a totally smooth area curve; things like inlets and exhausts tend to cause discontinuities in the curve. But you do the best you can.
There. That was $87 in change for a 3-cent question.