Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Crucify \Cru"ci*fy\ (-f?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crucified (-f?d); 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.]
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To fasten to a cross; to put to death by nailing the hands and feet to a cross or gibbet.
They cried, saying, Crucify him, cricify him.
--Luke xxiii. 21. -
To destroy the power or ruling influence of; to subdue completely; to mortify.
They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.
--Gal. v. 24. To vex or torment.
--Beau. & FL.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1300, from Old French crucifer (12c., Modern French crucifier), from Vulgar Latin *crucificare, from Late Latin crucifigere "to fasten to a cross," from cruci, dative of Latin crux "cross" (see cross (n.)) + figere "fasten" (see fix (v.)). An ancient mode of capital punishment considered especially ignominious by the Romans. Figurative sense of "to torment" is 1620s. Related: Crucified; crucifying.
Wiktionary
vb. 1 To execute (a person) by nailing to a cross. 2 To punish or otherwise express extreme anger at, especially as a scapegoat or target of outrage. 3 (context informal English) To thoroughly beat at a sport or game.
WordNet
v. kill by nailing onto a cross; "Jesus Christ was crucified"
treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher" [syn: torment, rag, bedevil, dun, frustrate]
criticize harshly or violently; "The press savaged the new President"; "The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage" [syn: savage, pillory]
[also: crucified]
Wikipedia
"Crucify" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fifth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes. It was released on May 12, 1992, by Atlantic Records in North America and on June 8 by EastWest Records in the UK.
Usage examples of "crucify".
I will never give peace to the emperor of Rome, till he had abjured his crucified God, and embraced the worship of the sun.
Rather than crucifying corpses, Barbet uses live volunteers, hundreds in all.
And for this reason also we speak to the cross and pray to it, as to the Crucified Himself.
For people would have thought the Incarnation to be unreal, and, out of sheer spite, would have crucified Him before the proper time.
He allowed Himself to be taken by him on to a mountain, who allowed Himself to be crucified by His members.
He should not begin to work wonders from His early years: for men would have deemed the Incarnation to be imaginary and would have crucified Him before the proper time.
For it was much more wonderful that this should happen when He was crucified than when He was walking on earth.
Height is in that portion of the tree which remains over from the transverse beam upwards to the top, and this is at the head of the Crucified, because He is the supreme desire of souls of good hope.
It is understood to have been the third hour when the Jews clamored for the Lord to be crucified: and it is most clearly shown that they crucified Him when they clamored out.
Jesus, accordingly, was crucified there, that the standards of martyrdom might be uplifted over what was formerly the place of the condemned.
Christ became accursed of the cross for us, so for our salvation He was crucified as a guilty one among the guilty.
Word of God suffered in the flesh and was crucified in the flesh, let him be anathema.
The Lord of glory is said to be crucified, not as the Lord of glory, but as a man capable of suffering.
Jew, who crucified Him whom he had seen, will pay the penalty for daring to lay his hands on God the Word Himself.
Therefore the sin of Judas the traitor seems to be greater than that of those who crucified Him.