crusader
noun
cru·sad·er
krü-ˈsā-dər 
plural crusaders
: one who engages in a crusade: such as
a
Crusader
: a person who participated in any of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to win the Holy Land from the Muslims
This is religion as the Crusaders knew it: a battle to the death for souls that if not saved will be forever lost.—
Benjamin R. Barber
Benjamin R. BarberCleanliness improved during the Middle Ages—particularly after the Crusaders imported the Turkish bath.—Winifred Gallagher
Winifred GallagherThen the church was looted by the Christian crusaders from the West, who converted it for fifty-seven years to the Roman Catholic ritual.—Mario Salvadori
Mario Salvadori
b
: a person who makes an impassioned and sustained effort to bring about social or political change
human rights crusaders
an anti-government crusader
Black women lawyers early on were in the forefront of the civil rights struggle. Many women attorneys were crusaders for the poor and needy …—Rita E. Hauser
Rita E. HauserExamples of crusader in a Sentence
a crusader for improved safety in coal mines
Recent Examples on the Web
Vieira, elected as an anti-corruption crusader, had supported Bolsonaro in 2018.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
The free market crusader transferred $5.3 billion of Koch, Inc.'s nonvoting stock to a pair of nonprofits with fewer restrictions on lobbying and politics than traditional charities from 2020 to 2022.
—Sylvan Lebrun, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
In the past decade, as that constituency moved right, Abbott refashioned himself as a conservative crusader and a culture warrior.
—Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Another crusader to protect the Station into the next centuries, space futurist Rick Tumlinson, heaps accolades on the former ESA and NASA directors for issuing their global appeal for a reprieve for the ISS.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crusader
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Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
The free market crusader transferred $5.3 billion of Koch, Inc.'s nonvoting stock to a pair of nonprofits with fewer restrictions on lobbying and politics than traditional charities from 2020 to 2022.
—Sylvan Lebrun, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
In the past decade, as that constituency moved right, Abbott refashioned himself as a conservative crusader and a culture warrior.
—Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
Another crusader to protect the Station into the next centuries, space futurist Rick Tumlinson, heaps accolades on the former ESA and NASA directors for issuing their global appeal for a reprieve for the ISS.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crusader
Cite this Entry
“Crusader.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crusader. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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