Cru*sade" (kr?-s?d"), n. [F. croisade, fr. Pr. crozada, or Sp cruzada, or It. crociata, from a verb signifying to take the cross, mark one's self with a cross, fr. L. crux cross; or possibly taken into English directly fr. Pr. Cf. Croisade, Crosado, and see Cross.] 1. Any one of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers, in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, for the recovery of the Holy Land from the Mohammedans.

2. Any enterprise undertaken with zeal and enthusiasm; as, a crusade against intemperance.

3. A Portuguese coin. See Crusado.

Cru*sade", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Crusaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Crusading.] To engage in a crusade; to attack in a zealous or hot-headed manner. "Cease crusading against sense." M. Green.

• One of a series of ostensibly religious campaigns by Christian forces from the 11th to the 13th century, mostly to capture the Holy Land from the Muslims who occupied it.
  
• A grand concerted effort toward some purportedly worthy cause.