Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
CRUCIFY
savage, blast, pillory, crucify
(verb) criticize harshly or violently; “The press savaged the new President”; “The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage”
mortify, subdue, crucify
(verb) hold within limits and control; “subdue one’s appetites”; “mortify the flesh”
torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate
(verb) treat cruelly; “The children tormented the stuttering teacher”
crucify
(verb) kill by nailing onto a cross; “Jesus Christ was crucified”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
crucify (third-person singular simple present crucifies, present participle crucifying, simple past and past participle crucified)
To execute (a person) by nailing to a cross.
To punish or otherwise express extreme anger at, especially as a scapegoat or target of outrage.
(informal) To thoroughly beat at a sport or game.
Source: Wiktionary
Cru"ci*fy (-f), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crucified (-fd); p. pr. & vb.n. Crucifying.] Etym: [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. They cried, saying, Crucify him, cricify him. Luke xxiii. 21.
2. 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.
3. To vex or torment. Beau. & FL.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
13 February 2025
BREAK
(verb) cause the failure or ruin of; “His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage”; “This play will either make or break the playwright”
Coffee Trivia
