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cruces

[ kroo-seez ]
/ ˈkru siz /
||

noun

a plural of crux.

RELATED WORDS

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

Nearby words

  1. crs.,
  2. crst syndrome,
  3. crt,
  4. crtc,
  5. cru,
  6. crucial,
  7. cruciality,
  8. crucially,
  9. crucian,
  10. crucian carp

crux

[ kruhks ]
/ krʌks /

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 ]
/ lɑs ˈkru sɪs /

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

Examples from the Web for cruces

British Dictionary definitions for cruces

cruces

/ (ˈkruːsiːz) /

noun

a plural of crux

Crux

/ (krʌks) /

noun Latin genitive Crucis (ˈkruːsɪs)

the more formal name for the Southern Cross

crux

/ (krʌks) /

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

n.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for cruces

crux

[ krŭks, kruks ]

n. pl. crux•es

A cross or a crosslike structure.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.