crucible

[kroo-suh-buhl]

noun

1. a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.

2. Metallurgy.,  a hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which the metal collects.

3. a severe, searching test or trial.

crucible

¹

/ ˈkruːsɪbəl /

noun

1. a vessel in which substances are heated to high temperatures

2. the hearth at the bottom of a metallurgical furnace in which the metal collects

3. a severe trial or test

Crucible

²

/ ˈkruːsɪbəl /

noun

1. a Sheffield theatre, venue of the annual world professional snooker championship

crucible

1. A heat-resistant container used to melt ores, metals, and other materials.

Word History and Origins

Origin of crucible¹

1400–50; late Middle English crusible, corusible < Medieval Latin crucibulum; compare Anglo-French crusil, Old French croi-suel, croisol night lamp, crucible < Gallo-Romance *croceolus (of uncertain origin), probably Latinized on the model of tūribulum thurible

Word History and Origins

Origin of crucible¹

C15 corusible, from Medieval Latin crūcibulum night lamp, crucible, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Some believe the territory's complex citizenship laws have inadvertently created a crucible of disenfranchised Haitian youngsters.

From BBC

It is the crucible of Oregon’s energy growth, the single piece of infrastructure that utilities and renewable advocates are most eager to see built.

From Salon

Pendine was the crucible of land speed records in the 1920s, with enough space for cars to accelerate to - and more importantly brake from - speeds which had become impossible to achieve on racetracks like Brooklands.

From BBC

Both are concerned with childhood traumas, and if Shteyngart isn’t explicitly borrowing their plots he borrows some of their gravitas, the sense that preteendom is a crucible for experiencing life’s various crises.

From Los Angeles Times

But having amped up the craziness and the stakes, Storer now appears to be more interested in exploring why so many people believe that an ever-roiling crucible is necessary to achieve greatness.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does crucible mean?

A crucible is a severe test or trial or an extremely challenging experience.This figurative sense of crucible is based on the literal meaning of the word: a heat-resistant container used to melt metals. Crucible in the literal sense is used in the context of metallurgy, the science of working with and refining metals. The word is perhaps best known from its use as the title of the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.Example: Their friendship was forged in the crucible of boot camp.