crucible
Americannoun
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a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.
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Metallurgy. a hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which the metal collects.
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a severe, searching test or trial.
noun
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a vessel in which substances are heated to high temperatures
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the hearth at the bottom of a metallurgical furnace in which the metal collects
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a severe trial or test
noun
Usage
What does crucible mean? A crucible is a severe test or trial or an extremely challenging experience.This figurative sense of crucible is based on the literal meaning of the word: a heat-resistant container used to melt metals. Crucible in the literal sense is used in the context of metallurgy, the science of working with and refining metals. The word is perhaps best known from its use as the title of the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.Example: Their friendship was forged in the crucible of boot camp.
Etymology
Origin of crucible
1400–50; late Middle English crusible, corusible < Medieval Latin crucibulum; compare Anglo-French crusil, Old French croi-suel, croisol night lamp, crucible < Gallo-Romance *croceolus (of uncertain origin), probably Latinized on the model of tūribulum thurible
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I was socialized in the crucible of millennial progressivism.
From Slate • Feb. 12, 2026
There’s no crucible more scrutinized in the sport than the Olympic Games.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2026
New York was “a crucible where ordinary people, artists, and outcasts brushed shoulders with superstars in the making,” Mr. Ferrando writes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
Some believe the territory's complex citizenship laws have inadvertently created a crucible of disenfranchised Haitian youngsters.
From BBC • Sep. 7, 2025
Johnny did not see Dove standing on a stool, reaching far back and carefully taking out a cracked crucible.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
