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crusade

 [kroo-seyd]   Example Sentences Origin

cru·sade

   [kroo-seyd] noun, verb, -sad·ed, -sad·ing.
noun
1.
(often initial capital letter) any of the military expeditions undertaken by the Christians of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries for the recovery of the Holy Land from the Muslims.
2.
any war carried on under papal sanction.
3.
any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause, etc.: a crusade against child abuse.
verb (used without object)
4.
to go on or engage in a crusade.

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Crusade is one of our favorite verbs.
So is peculate. Does it mean:
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
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Origin:
1570–80; earlier crusada < Spanish cruzada; replacing croisade < Middle French. See cross, -ade1

Related forms
cru·sad·er, noun
non·cru·sad·ing, adjective
post-Cru·sade, adjective
pre-Cru·sade, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To crusade
Example Sentences
  • America's anti-drugs crusade is not a campaign issue.
  • The park's special mission inspires the crusade to save it.
  • They were quite sincere and considered theirs a moral crusade.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
crusade (kruːˈseɪd)
 
—n
1.  (often capital) any of the military expeditions undertaken in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries by the Christian powers of Europe to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims
2.  (formerly) any holy war undertaken on behalf of a religious cause
3.  a vigorous and dedicated action or movement in favour of a cause
 
—vb
4.  to campaign vigorously for something
5.  to go on a crusade
 
[C16: from earlier croisade, from Old French crois cross, from Latin crux; influenced also by Spanish cruzada, from cruzar to take up the cross]
 
cru'sader
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

crusade
1706, respelling of croisade (1577), from M.Fr. croisade, Sp. cruzada, both from M.L. cruciata, pp. of cruciare "to mark with a cross," from L. crux (gen. crucis) "cross." Figurative sense of "campaign against a public evil" is from 1786.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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