Adjacent Words

Crusade definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CRUSADE, n. [L.] A military expedition undertaken by Christians, for the recovery of the Holy Land, the scene of our Saviors life and sufferings, from the power of infidels or Mohammedans. Several of these expeditions were carried on from Europe, under the banner of the cross, from which the name originated.
CRUSADE, n. A Portuguese coin stamped with a cross.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported populist campaigns"; "they worked in the cause of world peace"; "the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant"; "the movement to end slavery"; "contributed to the war effort" [syn: campaign, cause, crusade, drive, movement, effort]
2: any of the more or less continuous military expeditions in the 11th to 13th centuries when Christian powers of Europe tried to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims v
1: exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for; "The liberal party pushed for reforms"; "She is crusading for women's rights"; "The Dean is pushing for his favorite candidate" [syn: crusade, fight, press, campaign, push, agitate]
2: go on a crusade; fight a holy war

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: blend of Middle French croisade & Spanish cruzada; both ultimately from Latin cruc-, crux cross Date: circa 1708 1. capitalized any of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to win the Holy Land from the Muslims 2. a remedial enterprise undertaken with zeal and enthusiasm II. intransitive verb (crusaded; crusading) Date: 1732 to engage in a crusade • crusader noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a any of several medieval military expeditions made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. b a war instigated by the Church for alleged religious ends. 2 a vigorous campaign in favour of a cause. --v.intr. engage in a crusade. Derivatives: crusader n. Etymology: earlier croisade (F f. croix cross) or crusado (Sp. f. cruz cross)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crusade Cru*sade" (kr?-s?d"), n. [F. croisade, fr. Pr. crozada, or Sp cruzada, or It. crociata, from a verb signifying to take the cross, mark one's self with a cross, fr. L. crux cross; or possibly taken into English directly fr. Pr. Cf. Croisade, Crosado, and see Cross.] 1. Any one of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers, in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, for the recovery of the Holy Land from the Mohammedans. 2. Any enterprise undertaken with zeal and enthusiasm; as, a crusade against intemperance. 3. A Portuguese coin. See Crusado.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crusade Cru*sade", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Crusaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Crusading.] To engage in a crusade; to attack in a zealous or hot-headed manner. ``Cease crusading against sense.'' --M. Green.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(crusades, crusading, crusaded) 1. A crusade is a long and determined attempt to achieve something for a cause that you feel strongly about. Footballers launched an unprecedented crusade against racism on the terraces... = campaign N-COUNT: oft N against/for n, N to-inf 2. If you crusade for a particular cause, you make a long and determined effort to achieve something for it. ...a newspaper that has crusaded against the country's cocaine traffickers. ...an adopted boy whose cause is taken up by a crusading lawyer. = campaign VERB: V against/for n, V-ing 3. The Crusades were the wars that were fought by Christians in Palestine against the Muslims during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. N-PROPER-PLURAL: the N

Moby Thesaurus

activity, battle, campaign, cause, commitment, drive, expedition, faith, fight, great cause, holy war, interest, issue, jehad, jihad, lifework, lobby, mass movement, movement, principle, reason for being, war