a. [ F. crucial, fr. L. crux, crucis, cross, torture. See Cross. ] 1. Having the form of a cross; appertaining to a cross; cruciform; intersecting; as, crucial ligaments; a crucial incision. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Severe; trying or searching, as if bringing to the cross; decisive; as, a crucial test. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Cf. Sw. karussa, G. karausche, F. carousse, -assin, corassin, LL. coracinus, Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; a sort of fish. ] (Zool.) A kind of European carp (Carasius vulgaris), inferior to the common carp; -- called also German carp. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The gibel or Prussian carp is now generally considered a variety of the crucian carp, or perhaps a hybrid between it and the common carp. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To torture; to torment. [ Obs. ] See Excruciate. Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. cruciatus, p. p. of cruciare to crucify, torture, fr. crux, crucis, a cross. See Cross. ] 1. Tormented. [ Obs. ] Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Having the leaves or petals arranged in the form of a cross; cruciform. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. cruciatio. ] The act of torturing; torture; torment. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. crucibulum a hanging lamp, an earthen pot for melting metals (cf. OF. croisel, creuseul, sort of lamp, crucible, F. creuset crucible), prob. of German origin; cf. OHG. krūsul, LG. krüsel, hanging lamp, kroos, kruus, mug, jug, jar, D. kroes cup, crucible, Dan. kruus, Sw. krus, E. cruse. It was confused with derivatives of L. crux cross (cf. Crosslet), and crucibles were said to have been marked with a cross, to prevent the devil from marring the chemical operation. See Cruse, and cf. Cresset. ] 1. A vessel or melting pot, composed of some very refractory substance, as clay, graphite, platinum, and used for melting and calcining substances which require a strong degree of heat, as metals, ores, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A hollow place at the bottom of a furnace, to receive the melted metal. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A test of the most decisive kind; a severe trial; as, the crucible of affliction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hessian crucible (Chem.), a cheap, brittle, and fragile, but very refractory crucible, composed of the finest fire clay and sand, and commonly used for a single heating; -- named from the place of manufacture. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Cast steel made by fusing in crucibles crude or scrap steel, wrought iron, and other ingredients and fluxes. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ See Cruciferous. ] (Bot.) Any plant of the family Cruciferæ. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. a natural family of plants with four-petaled flowers; the mustard family.
Syn. -- family Cruciferae, Brassicaceae, family Brassicaceae, mustard family. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. crux, crucis, cross + -ferous: cf. F. crucifère. ] 1. Bearing a cross. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a family of plants which have four petals arranged like the arms of a cross, as the mustard, radish, turnip, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who crucifies; one who subjects himself or another to a painful trial. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Crucifixes [ F. crucifix or LL. crucifixum, fr. L. crux, crucis, cross + figere, fixum, to fix. See Cross, and Fix, and cf. Crucify. ] 1. A representation in art of the figure of Christ upon the cross; esp., the sculptured figure affixed to a real cross of wood, ivory, metal, or the like, used by the Roman Catholics in their devotions. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cross, too, by degrees, become the crucifix. Milman. [ 1913 Webster ]

And kissing oft her crucifix,
Unto the block she drew. Warner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The cross or religion of Christ. [ R. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of nailing or fastening a person to a cross, for the purpose of putting him to death; the use of the cross as a method of capital punishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of one who is nailed or fastened to a cross; death upon a cross. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Intense suffering or affliction; painful trial. [ 1913 Webster ]

Do ye prove
What crucifixions are in love? Herrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. crux, crucis, cress + -form: cf. F. cruciforme. ] Cross-shaped; (Bot.) having four parts arranged in the form of a cross. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Crucified p. pr. & vb. n. Crucifying. ] [ F. crucifier, fr. (assumed) LL. crucificare, for crucifigere, fr, L. crux, crucis, cross + figere to fix, the ending -figere being changed to -ficare, F. -fier (in compounds), as if fr. L. facere to do, make. See Cross, and Fix, and cf. Crucifix. ] 1. To fasten to a cross; to put to death by nailing the hands and feet to a cross or gibbet. [ 1913 Webster ]

They cried, saying, Crucify him, cricify him. Luke xxiii. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To destroy the power or ruling influence of; to subdue completely; to mortify. [ 1913 Webster ]

They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. Gal. v. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To vex or torment. Beau. & FL. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. crux, cricis, cross + -gerous. ] Bearing the cross; marked with the figure of a cross. Sir. T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Discruciated; p. pr. & vb. n. Discruciating. ] [ L. discruciatus, p. p. of discruciare. See Cruciate. ] To torture; to excruciate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Discruciate a man in deep distress. Herrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excruciabilis. ] Liable to torment. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. excruciatus, p. p. of excruciare to excruciate; ex out + cruciare to put to death on a cross, to torment. See Cruciate, Cross. ] Excruciated; tortured. [ 1913 Webster ]

And here my heart long time excruciate. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Excruciated p. pr. & vb. n. Excruciating ] To inflict agonizing pain upon; to torture; to torment greatly; to rack; as, to excruciate the heart or the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their thoughts, like devils, them excruciate. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Torturing; racking. “Excruciating pain.” V. Knox. “Excruciating fears.” Bentley -- Ex*cru"ci*a`ting*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

pos>n. [ L. excruciatio. ] The act of inflicting agonizing pain, or the state of being thus afflicted; that which excruciates; torture. Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the Rosicrucians, or their arts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ The name is probably due to a German theologian, Johann Valentin Andreä, who in anonymous pamphlets called himself a knight of the Rose Cross (G. Rosenkreuz), using a seal with a St. Andrew's cross and four roses.) ] One who, in the 17th century and the early part of the 18th, claimed to belong to a secret society of philosophers deeply versed in the secrets of nature, -- the alleged society having existed, it was stated, several hundred years. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The Rosicrucians also called brothers of the Rosy Cross, Rosy-cross Knights, Rosy-cross philosophers, etc. Among other pretensions, they claimed to be able to transmute metals, to prolong life, to know what is passing in distant places, and to discover the most hidden things by the application of the Cabala and science of numbers. [ 1913 Webster ]