cruci-, crux +

1. On, at, or from the other side of; a grammatical word indicating that someone or something is on the opposite side of something or moves or reaches from one side to the other: "They ran across the street".
2. So as to cross; through: "The little girl drew lines across the paper".
3. From one side of to the other: "We drove our car on the bridge that would take us across a river".
4. Into contact with: "Mandy came across her old roommate".
5. From one side to the other: "The footbridge swayed when we ran across it.
6. On or to the opposite side: "We came across the bay by ferry".
7. Crosswise; crossed.
8. In such a manner as to be comprehensible, acceptable, or successful: "Our parents put our idea across to the rest of the family".
9. Being in a crossed position: "Her mother was seated with her arms across her chest".

1. A structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, upon which people were formerly put to death.
2. Any object, figure, or mark resembling a cross, as two intersecting lines.
3. A mark resembling a cross, usually an X, made instead of a signature by a person who is unable to write out words.
4. The Cross, when capitalized refers to the cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified.
5. A figure of the Cross (a crucifix) as a Christian emblem, or as a symbol of Christianity; a badge, etc.
6. A sign made with the right hand by tracing the figure of a cross in the air or by touching the fore heard, chest, and shoulders, as an act of devotion usually by Roman Catholics.
7. A structure or monument in the form of a cross, set up for prayer, as a memorial, etc.
8. Any of various conventional representations or modifications of the Christian emblem used symbolically or for ornament, as in heraldry or art; such as, a Latin cross; a Maltese cross.
9. A crossing of animals or plants; a mixing of breeds.
10. An animal, plant, breed, etc., produced by crossing; that is, crossbreeding.
12. A place for crossing.
13. To bear one's cross; that is, to accept trials or troubles (tribulations) patiently.
14. Being in an ill humor; grouchy, bad-tempered, petulant, testy, cranky, disagreeable.
15. Being antagonistic or contrary; contrary, opposite, antagonistic, adverse: such as, they are working at cross purposes.

1. The transfer of pollen from the flower of one plant to the flower of a plant having a different genetic constitution.
2. A sharing or interchange of knowledge, ideas, etc., as for mutual enrichment; cross-fertilization.

1. Extremely significant or important; such as, a crucial problem.
2. Vital to the resolution of a crisis; decisive; as a crucial election.
3. Having the form of a cross; cross-shaped.

A crucial election is like a signpost because it shows which way the electorate is moving. The metaphor of a signpost, in fact, gives us the sense of the word crucial, "of supreme importance, critical."

Francis Bacon used the phrase instantia crucis, "crucial instance," to refer to something in an experiment that proves one of two hypotheses and disproves the other.

Bacon's phrase was based on a sense of the Latin word crux, "cross", which had come to mean "a guidepost that gives directions at a place where one road becomes two", and hence was suitable for Bacon's metaphor.

Both Robert Boyle, often called the father of modern chemistry, and Isaac Newton used the similar Latin phrase experimentum crucis, "crucial experiment".

When these phrases were translated into English, they became "crucial instance" and "crucial experiment".

Extremely important because many other things depend on it; as with, The orchestra wants to win over fans and, more crucially, radio producers.

1. Arranged in or forming a cross; cruciform.
2. Overlapping or crossing, as the wings of some insects when at rest.
3. Shaped like a cross: the cruciate ligaments of the knee.

1. A heat-resistant container in which ores or metals are melted.
2. The hollow part at the bottom of a furnace where molten metal collects.
3. A place or set of circumstances where people or things are subjected to forces that test them and often make them change.
4. A severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial.
. 5. A severe trial or ordeal.
6. A place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces.

1. One who bears a cross in a religious procession.
2. Any of various plants in the mustard family (Cruciferae or Brassicaceae), which includes the alyssum, candytuft, cabbage, radish, broccoli, and many weeds.

1. Having killed someone who has been tied to or nailed to a cross and left there to die.
2. Someone who was severely punished or damaged; such as, "She crucified me when she found out what I did to her birthday cake!"

1. One who crucifies.
2. Someone who subjects himself/herself or another to a painful trial.

1. An image or figure of Jesus on the cross.
2. A cross viewed as a symbol of Jesus' crucifixion.

1. The act of crucifying; execution on a cross.
2. The crucifying of Jesus on Calvary.
3. A representation of Jesus on the cross.
4. An extremely difficult, painful trial; torturous suffering.
5. The infliction of extremely painful punishment or suffering.
6. The act of executing by a method widespread in the ancient world; the victim's hands and feet were bound or nailed to a cross.

Shaped like a cross; cruciate.

1. To put (a person) to death by nailing or binding to a cross.
2. To mortify or subdue (the flesh).
3. To treat cruelly; torment; as, "They crucified the awkward child with teasing."
4. To criticize harshly; pillory: "The media crucified the politician for breaking a campaign pledge."

1. A devotee of crossword puzzles, or an expert at solving them.
2. A designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles; a maker or creator of crossword puzzles.