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
-
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:
His crusade against Delta and Bastian is tame compared with his last airline feud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 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
"This is a crusade," says Georgios Samaras, an assistant professor of public policy at King's College London who studies the European and US far right.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
She wouldn’t even acknowledge that although she’d started this crusade, I was the one receiving the backlash.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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
Toward the end of the thirteenth century, the Catholic Church began what could be called a series of domestic crusades within Europe.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
A few years after legendary magician Harry Houdini crusaded against spiritualists and mediums, spook shows started popping up throughout North America and beyond.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024
It’s as if researchers studying the causes of lung cancer arbitrarily decided to exclude the biggest factor — smoking tobacco — and instead crusaded against a superficial low-level correlation like listening to country music.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2024
His team said several Moscow churches refused to hold the funeral for the man who crusaded against official corruption and organized massive protests.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 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
He was a militant idealist who crusaded against racial bigotry by growing faint in its presence.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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
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
What the Bullmers and company should have known is not to bring a crusading journalist aboard a boat where so much skullduggery is on the itinerary, and so many spoilers in the cargo hold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
Horace Mann, the crusading head of Massachusetts’ school system, warned in 1839 that there were just not enough schools.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2024
She could keep trusting Mom and Dad, and keep being my whining, chess-playing, crusading Charlemagne.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
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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.
