cruces

[kroo-seez]

noun

a plural of crux.

crux

[kruhks]

noun, plural crux·es, cru·ces [kroo-seez] /ˈkru siz/.

a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point: The crux of the trial was his whereabouts at the time of the murder.

a cross.

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

Origin of crux

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; cf. crucial

Synonyms for crux

1. essence, heart, core, gist.

Las Cruces

[lahs kroo-sis]

noun

a city in S New Mexico, on the Rio Grande.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cruces

core, nub, gist, essence, body, kernel, substance, meat, purport, nitty-gritty, heart, pith, thrust, matter

Examples from the Web for cruces

Historical Examples of cruces

At its mouth the Chagre is one-fourth of a mile broad, and at Cruces about 150 feet: in its middle course the depth is 24 feet.
A General Plan for a Mail Communication by Steam, Between Great Britain and the Eastern and Western Parts of the World
James M'Queen, Esq.
But we no pay twenty dollars unless you get us to Cruces poco pronto, sabe?
Gold
Stewart White
From Cruces to Panama mules were employed for the remainder of the journey.
The Makers of Canada: Champlain
N. E. Dionne
There are two points at which one may land, viz: the villages of Gorgona and Cruces.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Brevet Col. J.C. Fremont
Cruces is a small village, situated on a plain, immediately on the banks of the river, which here are high and sandy.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California
Brevet Col. J.C. Fremont

British Dictionary definitions for cruces

cruces

noun

a plural of crux

Crux

noun Latin genitive Crucis (ˈkruːsɪs)

the more formal name for the Southern Cross

crux

noun plural cruxes or cruces (ˈkruːsiːz)

a vital or decisive stage, point, etc (often in the phrase the crux of the matter)

a baffling problem or difficulty

mountaineering the most difficult and often decisive part of a climb or pitch

a rare word for cross

Word Origin for crux

C18: from Latin: cross

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cruces

crux

1814, "cross," from Latin crux "cross" (see cross (n.)). Figurative use for "a central difficulty," is older, from 1718; perhaps from Latin crux interpretum "a point in a text that is impossible to interpret," in which the literal sense is something like "crossroads of interpreters." Extended sense of "central point" is from 1888.

cruces in Medicine

crux

[krŭks, kruks]

n. pl. crux•es

A cross or a crosslike structure.