crucify
part of speech
verb (crucify, crucifies, crucified, crucifying)
meaning for a pupil
1) To kill someone by nailing or tying them to a cross and leaving them to die — a cruel punishment used in ancient times, especially by the Romans. tree →
2) (Bible, church) Used of Jesus: Christians believe Jesus was crucified and rose again on the third day. tree →
3) (informal) To criticise someone very harshly or punish them badly: «The newspapers crucified the manager.» tree →
4) (informal, sport) To beat someone very heavily. tree →
sense in the lessons
In religious education and church life: the Gospels tell how Jesus was crucified; Good Friday remembers his death, Easter his rising. In history: the Romans crucified rebels and slaves. In everyday informal talk: «My mum will crucify me if I'm late!» means she will be very angry (an exaggeration). Phrases: «was crucified», «crucified under Pontius Pilate», «crucify someone for something».
examples
- The Romans crucified criminals as a warning to others. tree →
- Christians believe Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose again on Easter Sunday. tree →
- The creed says he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. tree →
- Two thieves were crucified beside Jesus. tree →
- Mum will crucify me if I lose another coat! tree →
- The critics crucified the new film. tree →
- We got crucified six–nil in the final. tree →
note
Irregular spelling: y changes to i before -es and -ed: crucifies, crucified; but «crucifying». Nouns: «crucifixion» (the act), «crucifix» (a cross with the figure of Jesus on it). Talk about the religious meaning respectfully. The informal sense is an exaggeration, not a real threat.
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «crucify» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.