crusade

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A determined, long campaign to achieve a good or moral aim, often for social or political change.

   Grammar: Countable; often used with 'a' or 'the', and followed by 'for' or 'against'.

   Patterns

   • a crusade for something
   • a crusade against something
   • launch a crusade

   The mayor launched a crusade against litter in the city parks.

   Her crusade for equal pay lasted more than a decade.

   The charity's crusade to end child poverty has gained wide support.

2. 2proper nounproper

   Any of the medieval military expeditions by European Christians to take control of the Holy Land.

   Grammar: Capitalized; often used in the plural 'the Crusades'.

   Patterns

   • the First Crusade
   • the Crusades

   The First Crusade began in 1096.

   We studied the Crusades in history class.

Word forms

Common combinations

launch a crusade

The newspaper launched a crusade to save the local library.

crusade against

She led a crusade against smoking in public places.

crusade for

Their crusade for cleaner air attracted national attention.

personal crusade

Fighting the disease became his personal crusade.

Synonyms and how they differ

campaign

Campaign is a more general word for organized actions to achieve a goal, while crusade emphasizes strong moral passion.

drive

Drive suggests an organized effort, often shorter or more focused than a crusade.

movement

Movement refers to a broad group of people working for change, not necessarily one sustained effort.

Word family

crusader noun

A person who takes part in a crusade.

crusading adjective

Working energetically for a cause.

Commonly confused: crusade or crusado?

Practice

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