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crusade

cru·sade [ kroo sáyd ]


noun  (plural cru·sades)
Definition:
 
1. concerted effort: a vigorous concerted action to promote or eliminate something

2. religiously motivated effort: a war or campaign that is religiously motivated, e.g. one with papal sanction

3. religious war: in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, a military expedition by European Christians to retake areas in the Holy Land captured by Muslim forces



intransitive verb  (past and past participle cru·sad·ed, present participle cru·sad·ing, 3rd person present singular cru·sades)
Definition:
 
1. campaign vigorously: to make a vigorous or concerted effort to promote or eliminate something

2. fight for religion: to fight in a religious crusade

[15th century. < medieval Latin cruciata< Latin crux "cross"]
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