cruci-, crux +

Someone who loves or who is very fond of crossword puzzles.

1. To sail or travel about, as for pleasure or reconnaissance.
2. To go or move along, especially in an unhurried or unconcerned fashion.
3. To travel at a constant speed or at a speed providing maximum operating efficiency for a sustained period.
4. To move leisurely about an area in the hope of discovering something; such as, "The taxis were cruising for fares.
5. The act or an instance of cruising, especially a sea voyage for pleasure.
6. Etymologically: Dutch kruisen, to cross, from kruis, cross, from Middle Dutch cruce, from Latin crux, cruc-, "cross".

1. One of a class of fast warships of medium tonnage with a long cruising radius and less armor and firepower than a battleship.
2. A cabin cruiser.
3. A person or thing that cruises.
4. A police car, especially one used to patrol an area.

1. Any of the military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims.
2. A holy war undertaken with papal sanction.
3. A strong movement for a cause or against an abuse.
4. An concerted action to promote or eliminate something.

The Crusades refers to the nine historical European-Christian military expeditions to the Muslim-controlled Holy Land. The term "crusaders" refers or those taking part in those campaigns.

In English, the term "crusade" has come to refer to any type of campaign that is conducted with an emphasis on zeal and persistence. Even in these days, it may refer to a contemporary attack against Islam, whether perceived or real, asserted to be of similar nature or basis as the historic Crusades.

1. A warrior who engages in a holy war; for example: "The crusaders tried to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims."
2. Someone who is engaged in a crusade; such as, "The crusaders of the Middle Ages." 3. A disputant who advocates reform.

1. An essential, basic, crucial, or pivotal point.
2. The basic, central, or critical point or feature; such as, "The crux of the matter." "The crux of an argument."
3. A puzzling or apparently insoluble problem.

1. To inflict severe pain on; to torture.
2. To inflict severe mental and emotional distress on someone.
3. To torture someone by inflicting physical pain.

1. Intensely painful; agonizing.
2. Very intense or extreme; such as, "She wrote her essay with excruciating precision."

1. The act of excruciating.
2. The state of being excruciated.
3. Torture is an instance of being in a state of excruciation.
4. The infliction of extremely painful punishment or suffering.

In genetics, a genetic cross of two genotypes in which sex influences the outcome; for example, the cross of a male horse with a female donkey results in a hinny, while the cross of a female horse with a male donkey results in a mule.