The verb crucify has 3 senses (first 2 from tagged texts)
1. (2) crucify -- (kill by nailing onto a cross; "Jesus Christ was crucified")
2. (1) torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate -- (treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher")
3. savage, pillory, crucify -- (criticize harshly or violently; "The press savaged the new President"; "The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage")