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View synonyms for crux

crux

1

[ kruhks ]

noun

, plural crux·es, cru·ces [kroo, -seez].
  1. a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point:

    The crux of the trial was his whereabouts at the time of the murder.

    Synonyms: gist, core, heart, essence

  2. a cross.
  3. something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty.


Crux

2

[ kruhks ]

noun

, Astronomy.
, genitive Cru·cis [kroo, -sis].

crux

1

/ krʌks /

noun

  1. a vital or decisive stage, point, etc (often in the phrase the crux of the matter )
  2. a baffling problem or difficulty
  3. mountaineering the most difficult and often decisive part of a climb or pitch
  4. See cross
    a rare word for cross


Crux

2

/ krʌks /

noun

  1. the more formal name for the Southern Cross

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Word History and Origins

Origin of crux1

1635–45; < Latin: stake, scaffold, or cross used in executions, torment; figurative senses perhaps < New Latin crux ( interpretum ) (commentators') torment, a difficult passage in a text; crucial

Origin of crux2

< Latin: a cross

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Word History and Origins

Origin of crux1

C18: from Latin: cross

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Example Sentences

The crux of the problem remains on this side of the Pacific.

The crux of the matter is not the date of the next elections, but ensuring that elections are free, fair, and clean.

That, he says, is at the crux of why Pope Francis wants to train more exorcists.

And yet, despite the banter, the crux of the issue is the feasibility of it all.

The crux is new representation: of body, of proportion, of aesthetic ideals.

The very word (crux) was used among them as a curse, especially in the form ad (malam) crucem.

Ah, that was it—that was the crux of the whole matter; and he remembered now that never once had she reproached him with that.

Priests are portrayed in adoration of the crux ansata before phallic monuments.

Every Sunday morning proved the crux of her experience, and Mrs. Caukins' nerves were correspondingly shaken.

The crux of the whole matter is not exhaustion, but a loss of control over the nervous forces.

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Crutzencrux ansata