crusade
Americannoun
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crusades
plural
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Often Crusade 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.
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any war carried on under papal sanction.
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any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause, etc..
a crusade against child abuse.
verb (used without object)
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crusades,
present (3rd person singular)
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crusaded,
past participle, past
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crusading
present participle
noun
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(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
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(formerly) any holy war undertaken on behalf of a religious cause
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a vigorous and dedicated action or movement in favour of a cause
verb
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to campaign vigorously for something
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to go on a crusade
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crusadesimple
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crusadessimple
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have crusadedperfect
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has crusadedperfect
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am crusadingprogressive
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are crusadingprogressive
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is crusadingprogressive
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have been crusadingperfect progressive
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has been crusadingperfect progressive
Past
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crusadedsimple
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had crusadedperfect
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was crusadingprogressive
-
were crusadingprogressive
-
had been crusadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crusade
First recorded in 1570–80; earlier crusada, from Spanish cruzada; replacing croisade, from Middle French. See cross, -ade 1
Explanation
If you go on a crusade against vegetables, you are waging a long-term battle against leafy greens. A crusade is a passionate struggle against something or someone. In the 11th through 13th centuries, Roman Catholics attempting to win control of parts of what they considered the Holy Land (currently Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, and Palestinian lands) waged military battles against the Muslims who controlled the land. These battles are called the Crusades. The word crusade carries with it the feeling of a violent and vigorous fight. So if someone is on a crusade to do something, they mean business!
Vocabulary lists containing crusade
Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Trautman began a crusade for more compact, lightweight reading material.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Vitamin C was filed away with other “alternative” remedies, and Pauling’s late-career crusade was widely seen as a sad mistake.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
He has continued this crusade, recently endorsing a $20 minimum wage and speaking out against the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Now, under mounting international pressure, authorities are on a crusade to rid the country of that reputation.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
In the three months following Rogers’s story, Jet, Ebony, Smithsonian, and various newspapers published articles about Henrietta, “one of the pivotal figures in the crusade against cancer.”
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
The campaign takes a page from other Rust Belt cities, including Detroit and South Bend, that have undertaken big blight elimination crusades, with varying degrees of success.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
When Richard the Lionheart led crusades to the Middle East they were funded by crippling taxes at home.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
He is a traditionalist Roman Catholic who crusades for the traditional Latin Mass and enjoys discussing medieval philosopher-theologians and ancient texts.
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2025
The institution has a lot of baggage, as any organization with nearly two millennia and a few crusades under its cincture is bound to have.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025
Combating mitigation has become one of the great crusades in commercial aviation in the past fifteen years.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Hutchinson said residents have responded in force to his call for emergency sidewalks repairs, just as they did when he crusaded for a crackdown on widespread illegal dumping.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison Friday, Russia’s prison agency said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
Paul Morantz, a California lawyer who crusaded against brainwashing self-help gurus, crooked psychotherapists and menacing cults, including one that nearly killed him with a rattlesnake, died Oct.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 2, 2022
O'Rourke has long crusaded against big money in politics, and he made a point of not accepting money political action committees in 2018.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2022
He was a militant idealist who crusaded against racial bigotry by growing faint in its presence.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
The American Academy of Pediatrics began crusading against juice for kids.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
There’s Charles Foster Kane, an extremely rich, crusading newspaper owner who is chided by a friend for losing more than a million dollars a year.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026
A serious survey of the Israel-Palestinian conflict would be highly beneficial to everyone, but it would have to examine arguments made by both sides—that’s the difference between real academic instruction and political crusading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
The items reportedly also include documents from the Teutonic Order -- a Catholic brotherhood of crusading knights active in the Middle Ages.
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
Maybe, in a month or two more at Jerry’s, I might have regained my crusading spirit.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
