crux
pronunciation
How to pronounce crux in British English:
UK [krʌks]
How to pronounce crux in American English:
US [krʌks, krʊks]
-
- Noun:
- the most important point
Word Origin
- crux (n.)
- 1814, "cross," from Latin crux "cross" (see cross (n.)). Figurative use for "a central difficulty," is older, from 1718; perhaps from Latin crux interpretum "a point in a text that is impossible to interpret," in which the literal sense is something like "crossroads of interpreters." Extended sense of "central point" is from 1888.
Example
- 1. But oil-and other commodities-are the crux of the problem .
- 2. The crux is in the working-age population , aged 15-64 .
- 3. This is the crux of their success to date .
- 4. That appears to have been the crux of the dispute at live nation , where the bets run to nine-figure sums of dollars .
- 5. Afghanistan , where the two countries fumble and fail to accommodate each other , will remain the crux of pakistan 's relations with america .